Carleton Ravens men’s hockey defenceman Matt Stanisz was one of 23 players cut from the Toronto Maple Leafs training camp Sept. 21, putting an end to his amateur tryout with the NHL club.
The defenceman had initially only been invited to the rookie tournament held in Oshawa, Ont. from Sept. 10-13, but his play earned him a spot in main camp with the big club.
“I wasn’t sure, to be honest,” said Ravens head coach Marty Johnston in an interview Sept. 17, when asked if he thought Stanisz would be invited back to the Leafs’ main camp. “When I recruited him, I was expecting the possibility of him getting a pro contract, based on how well he’s done.“
“The first game [of the rookie tournament], there was a bit of a curve in terms of how fast the pace of the play was,” said Jim Hughes, Toronto’s director of player development. “In his second game and the rest of the tournament, he played very well, adjusted to the speed . . . and did a fine job for us.”
Stanisz and the Maple Leafs fared well in the tournament, beating rookies from the Chicago Blackhawks and Pittsburgh Penguins before getting bested in their final game against the Ottawa Senators.
“I thought I played well, once I got to skate a bit, took a couple of shifts and got up to speed,” Stanisz said.
He faced long odds from the beginning to crack the Maple Leafs roster out of camp, which began Sept. 16. Most major roles on the Maple Leafs’ defence were likely accounted for, with newcomers John-Michael Liles and Cody Franson joining a back end that already includes team captain Dion Phaneuf, Mike Komisarek, Carl Gunnarsson and the newly re-signed Luke Schenn.
The former Ontario Hockey League (OHL) standout will add the experience from the training camp to an already impressive resume, which includes an OHL championship with the Owen Sound Attack and an Eastern Conference championship with the Barrie Colts. For now, though, Stanisz’s dreams of playing in the NHL will be put on hold for at least one more year.
Stanisz entered camp hoping to secure a professional contract with the Maple Leafs’ American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Toronto Marlies, but will instead return to Carleton.
“He came to our rookie camp, did a very nice job, and adjusted to the speed and the pace into our NHL camp and he did a fine job in both camps,” Hughes said. “It’s a very competitive environment, and we couldn’t, at the present time, offer him an AHL contract.”
“A lot of times, it has to do with how many contracts are available and things of that nature,” Johnston said.
Despite being unable to offer him a contract, Hughes offered high praise for Stanisz.
“He has got his head on straight, and he’s got a path in life. We’ll keep an eye on him and see how he’s doing, how he progresses. Carleton’s got a good hockey player in him,” Hughes said. “It’s all these building blocks . . . these experiences that make kids better players. He’s a smart enough kid to use these experiences and apply them.”
Stanisz will now return to Ottawa and rejoin the Ravens, where he will begin his Ontario University Athletics career.
