Bit of a story about a former Panther prospect (9th round of the 1995 NHL Entry Draft) named David Lemanowicz and a teammate of his by the name of Savo Mitrovic.

I hadn't heard from "Manny" in a while, but I saw his name earlier this year on the transaction wires as being signed by the Laredo Bucks of the CHL. Evidently he'd played as a Leafs prospect - kind of, sort of - the year before for the Memphis RiverKings.

He did retire for five years during which time he attended the University of Toronto, and then was working as a practice goalie for the Leafs who "discovered" him and signed him for Memphis. Well, in any case, as a prospect for the Cats, he was never one of the highly thought of ones. I was actually surprised to see him sign with Laredo, doubley surprised to find he's still there and doing well.

Savo is a center who was born in Yugoslavia, but who played his juniors at the University of New Hampshire. I'm not sure about the whole story there, although I'm sure it's an interesting one, to say the least. Mitro also played for the old ECHL Greensboro Monarchs, and the Colonial Hockey League Detroit Falcons who later became the Port Huron Border Cats.

This story dates back to the 1996-97 season.

Lemanowicz had been sent down by the AHL Carolina Monarchs to Port Huron. A game between the Cats and the Generals in Flint Michigan got a little out of hand. Flint's known for having a tough crowd anyway, but some guy managed to scale the glass and get into the mix during what has essentially a bench clearing brawl.

Anyway, the guy ends up in front of Mitro and so, Savo punches him. Mitro got suspended for several games for it, as did Manny, who got tired of being pelted by trash and started throwing it back up into the stands. The guy who jumped down onto the ice got made an honorary General.

(Told you it was a tough crowd!)

Savo's excuse for his behavior: "He landed between me and my goalie. Who knew what he had in his hands?"

It's still one of my favorite quotes.

Mitro last played with the Odessa Jackalopes in the 1999-2000 season.

I kind of lost track of Manny after he was cut in training camp by the Idaho Steelheads. I honestly though I'd never see him re-surface again!

An odd side note to the above story: I was talking to my friend Ann in Flint. She related that the guy that went over the glass is now in jail for murder. Evidently he killed his girlfriend because she got pregnant. They gave him life. The man has some serious, major anger issues.