Remembering the Manchester Monarchs: Preparing for Lord Stanley’s Crowning

DISCLAIMER: The interviews for this series were conducted in the latter months of 2019.

Hockey fans in southern New Hampshire had good reason to rejoice over their new team. There was a unique connection between the fans and their team, plus the impressive on-ice quality didn’t hurt matters. But, there was something more.

As the Manchester Monarchs continued on, they were not only showcasing future NHL stars but future Stanley Cup champions.

Under Dean Lombardi’s watch on the opposite side of the country, the Los Angeles Kings, once stuck in the doldrums of the NHL’s basement, had gradually built themselves into a championship contender. Part of the then-Kings’ GM success was attributed to his team’s minor-league system.

“The Kings really had a great foresight in developing players at that point,” said former Monarch Kevin Westgarth, who suited up for the club between 2007 and 2010. “From [player development staff] Mike O’Connell to Nelson Emerson, they always had guys from the big club working with us in Manchester.”

From Alec Martinez and Trevor Lewis to Tyler Toffoli and Tanner Pearson, not only did the Monarchs roster include future NHLers but future playoff- and even Stanley Cup heroes.

Along the way, the Monarchs even had the privilege of having a couple of hometown players suit up for the team, including Hubie McDonough.

A native of Manchester, McDonough was able to finish his playing career with the Monarchs, albeit a five-game stint in 2001-02.

“I didn’t play much and actually ended up minus for my short stint,” McDonough told me. “But it was fun just to lace up in my hometown.”

It was his executive career, however, that made McDonough synonymous with the Monarchs franchise. Accomplishing such success in, of all places, his hometown, however, made the journey extra special for the now-56-year-old.

“I couldn’t believe my luck when it was the Kings moving in,” McDonough emphatically reflected. “I called Dave Taylor, whom I played with, and he put me in touch with Kevin Gilmore, the [Kings’] assistant GM at the time, and things worked out for me to move back home and stay in hockey.”

In addition to his time in the front office, McDonough even dipped his toes in the coaching ranks, winning a Calder Cup with his hometown team in 2015.

“Obviously winning the Cup, in what would be out last year in Manchester, is great and sad at the same time,” admitted the Manchester native. “The people you meet along the way — players, coaches, training staff, building staff and the fans made my job and life pretty good.

“That team was special, I know every team that wins says that and I suppose it’s true.  Special teams get it done and they did.  No matter how any game was going that year there was just no panic at all. They just kept doing what they were coached to do and we would win, more often than not anyway. The moving [to Ontario] was out of our hands so no one let it bother them.”

In 2002, the Kings signed an undrafted free agent by the name of Jeff Giuliano before assigning him to Manchester.

While he did play 101 games for the big club, Giuliano had the privilege of playing for a Monarchs club just 20 miles north of his hometown of Nashua, New Hampshire.

From 2002 to 2008, Giuliano was a solid fixture with the Monarchs and even returned in 2016 where he was an assistant coach with the ECHL’s version for two seasons.

I spoke with Giuliano about his tenures with the Monarchs and how it felt being such a short drive from where he grew up.

“It was pretty awesome, pretty surreal,” Guiliano responded. “Obviously being a hometown guy, [the local media] kind of made a lot of stories about it, was on the news and whatnot, had a couple of bobbleheads one year *laughs* and I was on a scratch ticket. So, obviously, playing pro hockey was awesome in itself, but being able to do it right where you grew up, that’s kind of indescribable. It was awesome.”

Of course, there was more to why Giuliano enjoyed his time playing for the Monarchs.

“Our fans were so passionate,” the Boston College alum continued. “A lot of them would have jerseys they paid $2,000 for, so that shows how dedicated they were to the Monarchs.

“I was extremely fortunate to play for the Monarchs and being so close to home. So, from Nashua, 15 minutes away and having played in Manchester for many years, so– I met my wife and I have a family now and in the off-season, we would live in Manchester. We have a house and lived [in Manchester] even when I was playing in Germany.”

Giuliano continues to reside in his home state as he finished up his second season as an assistant coach with the University of New Hampshire’s men’s hockey team.

While their relationship with the Monarchs continued to blossom, the Kings were hoping to contend for hockey’s Holiest prize: the elusive Stanley Cup.

While 1982’s famous “Miracle on Manchester” game and the Finals run in 1993 are certainly lasting moments for the franchise, the Kings’ playoff success was minimal at best by 2006. Yet, after replacing Dave Taylor as the club’s new general manager following the 2005-06 campaign, Dean Lombardi was determined to change this, albeit patiently.

Right off the bat, Lombardi had committed to a five-year rebuilding plan for his new team. The Kings would need to struggle for a few more years if they hoped to reach hockey’s proverbial summit. As a result, Manchester was the hub of the Kings’ rebuild as the big club centered much of their future around the Monarchs.

Part of Lombardi’s plan included emphasis on size. Looking at the Philadelphia Flyers of the mid-1970’s and, dare I say it, the 2007 Anaheim Ducks, there was precedent showing that size played a major role in winning Stanley Cups.

Among one of the first players for this philosophy for the Kings was an undrafted Ivy-Leaguer in the aforementioned Kevin Westgarth.

Signed during the 2006-07 campaign, Westgarth reported to Manchester shortly after wrapping up his collegiate career at Princeton.

“When I got [to Manchester], it was the end of 06-07 and I kind of immediately fit in,” said Westgarth. “It was a great group of guys. The fans were all very knowledgeable and passionate, and it was a really exciting place to be. I loved the town itself, too. It was like a big small town, Manchester was. I’m probably biased but it was one of the best cities in the AHL. It was a great place to call home not only that season but for a few more years after.

“The scene [in Manchester] was good with a lot of fans coming to the games, so it was quite a drastic change playing in front of a decent crowd at Princeton — probably 2500 people to close to 8000 in Manchester.”

Entering the 2009 Draft, the Kings, having not made the playoffs since 2002, were seeing light at the end of the tunnel.

“Dean Lombardi was great for prospects and developing players,” said Jordan Nolan, a late draft pick of the Kings in 2009. “He kind of made you turn to a pro pretty quick, so I owe a lot to him for my career and where I am right now as a person and player. So, Dean Lombardi definitely shaped the player I’ve turned into.”

While he may not have been blessed with a ton of scoring prowess or a plethora of speed, Jordan Nolan’s 6-foot-3, 220-pound frame was certainly nothing to take lightly. Lombardi saw this in the youngster, whom he drafted in the seventh round (186th overall) in 2009.

Nolan’s chances of making the NHL may not have been promising according to so-called experts. Thanks to the Monarchs, though, and the Kings’ development staff, Nolan eventually had the chance to prove many wrong. First, though, it was important to enjoy his time in Manchester.

“I think just the first year being pro, it was about enjoying the atmosphere with the guys, being young and single, so it was a fun time with your buddies,” Nolan said.

Among his teammates, Nolan was particularly close with future Kings teammate Jake Muzzin as well as defenseman Andrew Campbell, whom he was teammates with in the OHL with the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds.

“I’m friends with those guys to this day and they came to my wedding,” Nolan continued. “And some of us lived together in L.A., so it’s pretty cool to look back and to know that we were part of something special.”

Nolan wasn’t the only former Monarch, however, to make lasting friendships with his teammates.

“The guys I got to know, some of them got to play their dream of playing in the NHL, whether with the Kings or not: Matt Moulson, Brian Boyle, Teddy Purcell, Peter Harrold,” said Kevin Westgarth. “Then guys that played in the minors for a few years who were such a great group of guys. Drew Bagnall and Bud Holloway were in my wedding, so [Manchester] was a pretty special place.”

Unlike Nolan and Westgarth, Tyler Toffoli had to wait a couple of years to realize his Stanley Cup dreams.

Finishing his major-junior career with the Ottawa 67’s, Toffoli had just one professional game under his belt by the spring of 2012. Yet, while the lockout delayed the start of the 2012-13 NHL season, Toffoli took full advantage of his rookie season in the pros.

In 58 games with the Monarchs in 2012-13, the Kings’ second-round pick (47th overall) in 2010 scored 28 goals and 51 points, giving the big club plenty of reason to take notice. Like Drew Doughty, Kyle Clifford and 2012 first-rounder Tanner Pearson, Toffoli was the exception to the rule when it came to the Kings’ patient development.

“You know what, it was a lot of fun,” Toffoli said of his time in Manchester. “Obviously, it’s one of those [situations] where you don’t want to be down there for very long but the experience was, for the most part, definitely a good one. The older guys we had were really good guys and didn’t make the transition for us coming out of junior very difficult.”

When the NHL season did kick off in January 2013, Toffoli wouldn’t have to wait much longer to make his Kings debut, suiting up for 10 regular-season and 12 playoff games that same season.

After playing 18 games in Manchester to start the 2013-14, Toffoli would be called up by the Kings — this time, for good. Still, the Scarborough, Ont., native thinks fondly of his time with the Monarchs.

“Playing with some of the guys there, I made some lifelong friends: living in the same apartment building, a lot of video games, a lot of eating together and things like that,” added Toffoli. “So, it was good, it was fun and we had a really young team, so it kind of made things a little bit easier for a lot of us being the same age.”

As for their on-ice success, the Manchester Monarchs had plenty of it. After winning the Atlantic Division in 2004-05, the Monarchs would win it again two years later, tying a franchise record with 51 points and setting one with 110 points. The Monarchs would even go on to win their first playoff round in 2007, marching all the way to the conference final.

Despite missing the playoffs in 2009 — the only time in franchise history they would do so, the Monarchs were nonetheless setting the tone for their parent club’s ultimate success.

The next year, the Kings would end their playoff drought and two years after that, they would win their first Stanley Cup.

“Winning that first Stanley Cup with them and even to see them go on to win the second Cup, that was amazing,” a reminiscent Westgarth beamed. “The Kings organization was definitely ahead of the curve in terms of focusing on that development at the AHL level.“

While two Stanley Cups in three years may have been the epitome of the ideal relationship between an NHL club and their AHL affiliate, there was something missing for the latter.

In spite of their vast success during the regular season, the Manchester Monarchs would get past the first round just twice. This would, however, set the tone for the club’s most successful, albeit most bittersweet, accomplishment.

Stay tuned.

 

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