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A Calgary man whose goaltending talents earned him a spot in the Western Hockey League died in a car crash early Saturday morning in the city’s southeast.
Among those grieving 20-year-old Mike Maniago’s death is close friend and next door neighbour Jacalyn Fenske.
"He was my little brother, basically," she said.
"If I could have picked a little brother, it would have been him for sure."
Fenske, 24, said Maniago was a goaltender in the WHL, first with the Kamloops Blazers and then with the Lethbridge Hurricanes.
"This year, he chose to stay home and work full time just to help him mom out," Fenske said.
"That’s what I mean when I say he’s a good guy."
Fenske said Maniago, who lived in Calgary, was working as a goalie coach with young players at World Pro Goaltending.
Police say that at around 2:30 a.m. Saturday, a VW Jetta was heading southbound on Sun Valley Blvd. S. E.
The car was hit on the driver’s side as it headed through an intersection by a Toyota 4-Runner that was heading northbound on Chaparral Boulevard and turning left at the intersection of Marquis of Lorne Trail.
Maniago was killed instantly.
His younger brother, 18-year-old Mat-thew, was also in the Jetta, along with two other passengers.
Matthew has a scalp laceration, but Fenske said he will be all right.
She said the group had headed out that night to get some pizza.
Fenske said that in the last couple years, Maniago and his brother had become very close.
She said they were like best friends. "They’d go out for steak sandwiches
every Monday night with their mom just for some quiet family time," Fenske said.
"You don’t see teenage boys doing that. And they did that because they were such a close-knit family."
Fenske also said that Maniago’s parents want people to know their son was the best son that anyone could ask for.
"When he died, a part of them died, too," Fenske said.
Police are investigating the crash.
The three passengers in the Jetta were taken to hospital.
One suffered serious abdominal injuries.
An 18-year-old was treated for a fractured leg.
Another man had head and neck injuries.
The 19-year-old female driver of the 4-Runner was not injured. One 19-yearold male passenger was taken to Rockyview Hospital with minor head and neck injuries and released.
Fenske said she learned of the crash around 4 a. m. Saturday.
She had a gut feeling about it and hopped in her car and headed to the hospital.
It was there she learned that Maniago was dead.
"I just collapsed on floor and just started to scream and cry and say, ‘No.’ "
rcuthbertson@theherald.canwest.com
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