Part 2: The Legacy of 'Mani'

While we never got to see how far Michael Maniago could get in his hockey career, one NHL prospect is taking the former WHL netminder along for his journey.

Adin Hill was just ten years old when he met Maniago, who was one of the instructors at World Pro Goaltending in Calgary. For two summers, they worked together before the tragic crash on November 29, 2008 took his life.

Hill was pretty young at the time, so understanding the gravity of Maniago's death didn't really hit him for a couple of years.

In the 2013-2014 season, Hill made his debut with the Portland Winterhawks. He became their starter for the next two seasons, which gave him the unique opportunity to design his own mask. It was then that he decided to pay tribute to his former coach.

"I've made sure to put 'MM30' on every mask I've had since," Hill told Canes This Week. "He's a huge part of what got me here."

Latest mask for Adin Hill of the @pdxwinterhawks 2015-2016 season. #friedesigns #goaliemask #bauer pic.twitter.com/zOAof0Srfv

— Friedesigns (@Friedesigns) September 14, 2015

The back plate of Adin Hill's mask in Arizona. Photo courtesy: Alex Kinkopf/Tucson Roadrunners

SEE MORE: Dave Fried's gallery of the mask he designed for Hill for Tucson
SEE MORE: Dave Fried's gallery of the mask he designed for Hill for Portland

"Here" now is Tucson, Arizona, where he's playing with the Roadrunners, the AHL affiliate of the Arizona Coyotes. With starter Antti Raanta suffering from injuries, Hill has also been called up to the NHL once this season and played in a handful of games. Hill looks back at his time with Maniago with admiration.

"He was great with it, he picked out every little detail, but he always had a smile on his face, he was a great guy," Hill said. "There's not enough good things you can say about him."

"His character and attitude and everything was just unbelievable," Hill continued. "He was serious when he had to be, and for the most part, he was smiling and enjoyed his job. That carried into me enjoying training with him. We had a good relationship off the ice and he was just a great guy."

Every step of the way, Hill plans to honour Maniago with his small gesture, in the NHL or anywhere else he goes.

"Regardless of it (the NHL) or not, I want to push myself as far as I can but every time I put on my mask I see that on the back of it and it gives me a little reminder of him to push myself just a little bit harder," Hill said.

The gesture means a lot to those who knew Maniago the best.

READ MORE: Part 1: Remembering 'Mani'

"It really shows the impact that he had," former neighbour and friend Jacalyn Scott said. "We say that even though, physically, he might not have made it to the NHL, in a way he did make it by being memorialized by these players."

"It's amazing, it's absolutely amazing and it just makes me feel better knowing that he's not someone that's going to get forgotten," she added.

"Adin was a young goalie at the time and that's how he treated people, he wanted to be around people and I think it's special," Jeff Battah, Maniago's former goalie coach with the Lethbridge Hurricanes, agreed. "If you can leave that impact on somebody, you've done something pretty special to them and you've treated them the right way."

The fans have spoken! Congratulations #MaskedMadness winner @Adin_Hill! Check out the backstory of Hill's mask→https://t.co/7WYCW8f7bm pic.twitter.com/7a3bDWirYF

— AHL (@TheAHL) November 16, 2016

The sentiment wasn't lost on Maniago's mother, who was the first to point out the mask out to us.

"Words can't express how much it means to me that Mike made such an impact on so many people," Terri Maniago said in a Facebook message. "The dressing room, the tattoo and the goalie mask are just a few of the amazing things people have done in his memory and, to me, that shows what an impact he made."

Hill takes that sentiment to heart.

"He's always there with me when I'm on the ice," Hill said. "He helped me in those few years, it was crucial in my development to become a goalie and to always have him there with me, bringing him along my journey through my career and to have him there with me."

"It truly warms my heart in what Adin has done with his helmet to honour Mike," she continued. "In my own words, I said 'not in the way we would have wanted, but he reached his dream and made the NHL.'"