Panther Goalie Mansson to Enter Pro Hockey

PLYMOUTH, N.H. – Senior Mike Mansson is attempting to do what no other four-year member of Plymouth State’s ice hockey team has done in recent history: play professionally.Mansson, the Panthers’ starting goalie for the past two seasons, has been playing hockey his entire life. He looks to continue following his dream of playing at the next level upon graduation in May. “My main goal is to sign a professional contract,” said Mansson. “It doesn’t matter what level it is, I just want to say that I’ve done it and once I get to that level, I want to see how far up the later I can climb.”There have only been two Plymouth State hockey players in the past few years to move on to any sort of professional team, both of which only attended the school for a brief period of time. The most recent alum to attempt the jump was goaltender Rick Laurendeau, who tried out with the Manchester Monarchs last December.In efforts to secure a professional contract, Mansson had to first find an agent and gauge what level of interest there was out there. After speaking with an old coach of his about his plans for the future and desire to play professionally, he was soon after put in contact with a sports agent.”We hung up and about five minutes later he said he had somebody he wanted me to call,” Mansson explained. “So I called up this gentlemen and it ended up being an agent. He said he was willing to work with me and see how far things could go.”Mansson, who has been playing hockey since his early childhood, began skating when he was three and joined his first hockey team at the age of six when his family moved from Connecticut to Jackson Hole, Wyoming. “My first ice arena was a rodeo ground that people of the small town would fill up and freeze over, using a tractor as a zambony,” Mansson candidly explains about the beginnings of what would be a long-term interest in hockey. As a senior in high school having outgrown the small-town hockey team, he moved to Colorado to play on larger level, then soon after he opted to take a chance and move to Canada to play. “After I graduated from high school I declined all colleges and called my mom and said ‘I’m gonna pack my stuff and move to Canada,'” explained Mansson. “So I packed up my car and moved out to Canada without having any idea where I would eat or sleep.”Mansson found the move itself had several hardships. “The first team I went to didn’t have a place for me to live so I stayed in my car for a little bit,” said Mannson. “[I] ended up realizing I knew someone in the area and slept on his couch for eight weeks. It’s been a long journey.”Mansson currently has speaking engagements at local schools where he discusses with children the importance of following their dreams and overcoming adversity. He first began going to school when former member of the PSU hockey team who is currently teaching elementary school in Holderness approached him. Mansson has found the experience of speaking to children about their aspirations deeply rewarding. “No matter how many times people are going to sit there and say you can’t do something you just have to look past that,” explains Mansson. “If you want to do something, you can do it. Its fun to see little kids smiling with their eyes wide open and hearing what they want to be.”Mansson is looking to play in the East Coast Hockey league, which would be the hockey equivalent of double-A baseball. Playing in ECHL would put Mansson just one step below the American Hockey League (which the Manchester Monarchs belong to) and two below the National Hockey League. The league has joined with teams all over the country as far away as Anchorage, Alaska, but location does not diminish his desire to accomplish his goal. “I don’t want to stop playing hockey any time soon,” said Mansson. “Where ever I can go…I will go.”