After a family pause to welcome his infant son into the world, Brandon Manning’s pro hockey career is back on track as he begins a tour of duty in Sweden.
The 33-year-old signed a contract with IF Bjorkloven of the HockeyAllsvenskan, Sweden’s second-tier pro hockey league.
“I had an opportunity in Slovakia and a couple German teams were kicking tires and we decided to wait for the perfect situation and so far this has been it,” said Manning.
The former NHL defenceman is heading into his third season playing in Europe, having spent the past two years in the German Elite League with the Straubing Tigers. Manning had two goals and 19 points in 43 games for the Tigers in 2022-23.
Manning trained all summer knowing there was a strong possibility he’d sign with another European team. He’s been working out with the Spruce Kings as their skill development coach and has been helping his friends Renzo and RJay Berra teach the PGSS hockey program.
“I’ll jump into practice with those guys, a bit of scrimmage time and a few ice times by myself and we’re off to the races,” he said. “The GM said he’d seen me play in Germany last year and he kind of knows my history and how I play and thinks I can help them win a championship this year.”
Manning’s NHL career spanned 255 regular season games and 12 playoff games over eight seasons with Philadelphia, Chicago and Edmonton.
He was born and raised in Prince George and played his first junior hockey season with the Spruce Kings in 2007-08 before moving on to the WHL with the Chilliwack Bruins, a team he captained for two seasons before turning pro with the Flyers in 2011-12.
Manning and his wife Shae have two kids, a 2 1/2-year-old daughter Nora and 10-month-old Deakon, who was born in Germany. There’s a nine-hour difference between Pacific time and Swedish time, convenient for his family back home in P.G. who will get to stream his games starting at 10 a.m. PT.
“Nora is at a good age now where she loves coming to the rink and she’s kind of understanding that dad’s going on an airplane to play hockey and they’ll be able to watch the games - it’ll give my grandparents something to watch this winter again,” he said.
Manning left Prince George on Sunday and has worked it into his contract that he’ll be able to come back for his family’s first Canadian Christmas together.
He played in his first game for Bjorkloven on Wednesday, a 4-0 win over AIK. The win improved Bjorkloven's record to 14-5-1, first in the 14-team league.
