Thunderbirds Throwback Thursday: (Ryan Maunu 2004-2006)

By Matt Stefano

Welcome to week No. 3 of Thunderbirds Throwback Thursday!

Last week on Thurdsay, April 9th, we went all the way back to 2006-2008, when the Thunderbirds had local forward Brett Perlini.

But in today’s edition, we’ve decided to go all the way back to 2004-2006, when the Thunderbirds had local forward Ryan Maunu.

After playing high school hockey with the White Pines Wolverines during the 2003-2004 season, Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario native Ryan Maunu ended up joining the Soo Thunderbirds for the 2004-2005 season.

In his first season with the Thunderbirds in 2004-2005, Maunu led his hometown club in scoring with 22 goals and 76 points in 48 regular season games.

From December 5th, 2004 – March 12th, 2005 , Maunu went on a 24-game point streak, which set a franchise record for the longest consectuve point streak by a Thunderbird player.

Following the 2004-2005 season, Maunu was also the recipient of the Onaping Falls Huskies Trophy for the league’s Most Gentlemanly Player.

That season, he also became the second player in Thunderbirds history to win that award, following Josh Thompson (2002).

In his second and final season with the Thunderbirds in 2005-2006, the Soo native led his club in scoring for the second straight season with 38 goals and 98 points in 48 regular season games.

He also became the first player in Thunderbirds history to lead the club in scoring back to back seasons.

During the 2005-2006 season, Maunu scored a total of 10 game wiinning goals, which set the team record for most game winning goals by a Thunderbird player in a regular season.

Following his second season with the Thunderbirds, Maunu was then named an NOJHL Second Team All Star.

Since Maunu (2004-2006), the Thunderbirds have had two other players that have led the team in scoring back to back seasons, including Jerry Petingalo (2009-2010 & 2010-2011) and Matt Caruso (2015-2016 & 2016-2017)

(Photo credit to Jim Egan)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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