Mangone making the most of an opportunity

He’s had plenty of motivation to get where he is.

After he was passed over in the 2020 Ontario Hockey League draft, Calem Mangone used it to his advantage and turned it into an opportunity with the Saginaw Spirit.

He was eventually selected with the second pick in the 2021 OHL Under-18 draft and has made the most of it.

He put up solid numbers as an OHL rookie last season and has taken another step in his development as he’s moved into a prominent role as the Spirit battle for a West Division title this season.

“I’ve been working on getting better in my net battles and getting my stick free so any loose pucks, I can bang in,” Mangone said. “Practicing that makes me feel more comfortable in front of the house there and banging pucks away.”

The 18-year-old said he learned a lot from the veteran players on last year’s team, which included another Sault product in Camaryn Baber. That experience has helped a Spirit team that is in the mix for top spot in the OHL’s Western Conference.

“I learned so much here from the older guys,” Mangone said. “I learned a lot from different older guys on what to do in different situations and it helped out with scoring and with us winning games.”

After finishing out of the playoffs last year, the Spirit added young forward Michael Misa, who was granted exceptional player status for the 2022 OHL draft while also adding former Barrie Colts forward Hunter Haight, giving Saginaw a top six that has been among the best in the league through the first half of the season.

“The top six is unbelievable here,” Mangone said. “There’s so much skill. Whenever you are in the top six, you’re going to have a good night.”

“You have to be ready all the time,” Mangone added. “Those guys are awesome to play with.”

Mangone added that practices can be extremely competitive.

“There’s a lot of battles,” Mangone said. “That’s what a good team is like. You have to be competitive and have high-intensity practices.”

The Spirit went 24-43-0-1 last season. It took the team 37 games this season to match their win total from a season ago.

“We have a lot of guys back this year,” Mangone said. “All of the guys back are almost frustrated about how that went.”

“We wanted to be good this year. We wanted to make the playoffs and we wanted to have more experience,” Mangone also said.

Mangone added that there’s been an emotional change recently from Spirit coach Chris Lazary.

“The last couple of games (he’s) screaming on the bench after we score,” Mangone said. “It’s great to see when you have a team like that where everyone cares about winning games and for the future.”

Mangone added that that experience has been a factor in the improvement.

With a 24-11-2-0 record this season, the Spirit sit tied for top spot in the OHL’s West Division with 50 points and three points behind the London Knights for top spot in the Western Conference.

With things as tight as they are, Mangone said every game takes on added importance as the regular season winds down.

“You can’t take games off,” Mangone said. “At the end of the year, say we’re two points behind London, every game matters. You need to grab a point every game. You need to grab a win every game.”