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Broncos squad. And then, on Jan. 9 of this year, he was part of a 10-man deal that sent five players and two draft picks from Swift Current to Lethbridge in exchange for three veteran players.
“ This was obviously a difficult trade to make, as you can imagine, but one we felt we had to do,” said Hurricanes General Manager Peter Anholt.“ To be able to get a big, young guy like Logan Barlage, who has a lot of potential and we think he will be a real good player and to get Flodell, Blocker and Stanley to help us right now is important. And, of course, there are two draft picks.”
It was a deal that reverberated throughout the Western Hockey League and it was an outstanding move for Stanley. In fact, it rejuvenated his young career. The 20-yearold had four assists in 40 games in Swift Current, but has two goals and seven points in 22 games in Lethbridge.
Matthew describes himself as“ a stay-at-home
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MATTHEW STANLEY, LETHBRIDGE HURRICANES
defenseman” who likes to play mean in the corners. He won’ t back down from a scuffle and like many Interlake players he improved his skating with local skating legend and newspaper publisher Lana Meier.
“ My Mom thought I was an awful skater when I was younger so like many of us in Balmoral or Stonewall we worked on our skating with Lana,” said Stanley.“ She ' s an excellent skating teacher.”
Stanley is focussed on becoming a pro hockey player like his dad while his cousin, who was also part of a huge trade this season, would love to“ play for the University of Manitoba Bisons one day.”
MAXWELL DEALT BY WAYWAYSEECAPPO
James started playing when he was four-years-old and as a youngster, also played for the Stonewall Blues. In his second year of Pee Wee he played for the St. James Canadians and then, as an under-aged player. Maxwell was called up to play for the Interlake Lightning.
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He played City Midget with the lightening and then played two years with the Provincial Midget Lightning. James wasn’ t taken by any team in the WHHL / MJHL Bantam draft but he did impress enough people to have the MJHL’ s Waywayseecappo Wolverines sign him for the 2017-2018 season.
“ It definitely bothered me that I wasn’ t drafted because that’ s what you work for,” he admitted.“ I saw friends and other players get drafted or listed so it was tough. However, I just made a decision to keep playing.”
It was a good decision. A centre, Maxwell, enjoys the challenges of playing hard and smart in both the offensive and defensive zones. He tries to play the game like the Islanders’ John Tavares. He loves the face-off circle – taking draws and winning possession of the puck.
As a rookie this season, he started well for Wayway, but after a coaching change he saw his ice time diminish and realized the Wolverines wanted to go in another direction. Like his cousin, Maxwell was eventually traded this season – in a six-player deal between Waywayseecappo and Swan Valley on Dec. 3. In Wayway, he had seven goals and 13 points in 24 games. With his new team, he has two goals and seven points in 24 games.
“ I got off to a hot start and I think I was playing very consistent hockey,” he said.“ As one of the younger guys in the league I was doing pretty good. In Wayway there were a lot of changes really quickly. It was very disruptive and I didn’ t like it. I took a little
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time off hockey and went home hoping I’ d be traded. I was very happy when they moved me to Swan Valley.” James says his biggest moment in the game arrived when he was a member of the Bantam Interlake Lightning and won the Provincial Championship.
“ We were one of the lower ranked teams but we just gelled at the right time and we ended up winning it all in a second overtime against South West,” he explained.“ I think that was a very special hockey moment.”
Stanley and Maxwell are close and have plenty in common. Like most young hockey players both like to play video games, including NHL, Call of Duty and Battlefield and both prefer to listen to hip hop and rap music.
In the meantime, Matthew Stanley continues to achieve at a very high level and without a doubt remains dedicated to his life-long dream to play pro hockey just like his dad.
Cousin James Maxwell has grown from his experiences on and off the ice. Often under rated he’ s a player who works hard and turns heads. His numbers as a rookie are good and he’ s ready to contribute in a big way to his new team in Swan Valley.
Both cousins say their parents have been their biggest supporters and both speak highly about their grandfather-- Papa Frank Stanley, who travels to watch the boys and always loves to talk about hockey and life. And despite a couple of bumps this season, it’ s been a very good hockey life for both young men. ❍
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