About Sylvio Mantha
Joseph Sylvio Theobald Mantha (April 14, 1902 – August 7, 1974) was a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman who played fourteen seasons in the National Hockey League for the Montreal Canadiens and Boston Bruins. Elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1960, he was regarded as one of the best two-way defencemen of his day. == Amateur career == Mantha started as a right winger for the Notre Dame de Grace Juniors in 1919, before playing for Verdun in the Intermediate Mount Royal Hockey League, and Imperial Tobacco and Northern Electric in the Montreal industrial league. He played briefly for the Montreal Nationales in the Quebec league. After scoring four goals in nine games with the Nationales, he was signed by the Montreal Canadiens in December 1923. == NHL career == The Canadiens started Mantha as a forward, then moved him to defence as part of a youth movement, because veteran Montreal defencemen Sprague Cleghorn and Billy Coutu were aging. He was used sparingly as a substitute that first season, but gained more ice time thereafter as an injury replacement for Coutu and as Cleghorn was suspended during the season. Mantha played more regularly in the playoffs, helping the Canadiens to the 1924 Stanley Cup championship. When Cleghorn was traded just before the 1925–26 NHL season, Mantha gained a more prominent role. With the further trade of Coutu to Boston in the 1927 offseason, he was named captain of the team, and paired with Herb Gardiner—acquired with the breakup of the Western Hockey League from the Calgary Tigers—to become the new starting defencemen for the Canadiens.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.