WHERE IN THE WORLD IS: Thomas Scantlebury

He spent the better part of four seasons with the Lethbridge Hurricanes between 1997 and 2001.

Defenseman Thomas Scantlebury went on to register 14 goals, 49 assists and 484 penalty minutes in his time with the Hurricanes after being traded from Kamloops for Shane Belter.

We recently saw him comment on a Facebook post and reached out to see if he would be game for an installment of "Where In The World Is" and he happily obliged.

#1. Where in the world is Thomas Scantlebury?

Thomas Scantlebury is up north. My parents moved from Manitoba my last year in Lethbridge and I’ve been hanging around the Stony Plain region ever since. I’m working out of Edmonton, still live in Stony Plain. My brother and sister are up here and left only one sibling out in Manitoba.

#2. What are you up to nowadays?

I’m a firefighter. I’ve been here for 14 years. Once my career ended, I bounced around a bit, trying to figure it out. I just so happened to meet someone who pushed me in the right direction and it’s been good to go since then.

#3. What’s your favourite memory of Lethbridge?

I came there from a situation where things could only get better. There’s so many things. I had great billets. Great organization. Friends that I still talk to. Actually, friends that I played with I still work with, surprisingly enough. To pick one thing out, like, coaches, staff, everybody was so good. I still tell stories to people about it to this day.

#4. What was your first impression of Lethbridge when you arrived in town?

Well, I was a prairie guy so I was just happy. I had been exhausted playing. Randy Maxwell picked me up at the airport and we chatted. He said I’m going to a good billet and we’re happy to have you. I was hunky-dorey with that hahaha! I just couldn’t take the smile off my face after leaving Kamloops.

#5. Do you have a favourite teammate from your days with the ‘Canes?

I have a few. I probably converse with three of them the most. Well, Luc Theoret is still here in Edmonton at the fire department so we still talk. Even though we live about 45 minutes away from each other, we don’t see each other as much as we should. Jason Hegberg is another guy, down the road in Stettler, I still talk to him lots. And Scotty Borders, he’s down in the States still but he has family in Stony. So those are probably the three guys that I talk to a bunch. Oh, and Jordon Flodell was there for a little bit and our wives are good friends and Jordan and I are still good friends and they’re out in Spruce Grove.

#6. You talked about your billets earlier so what was your favourite meal they made for you?

I don’t think Bonnie could make a bad meal. I have a job where a lot of it is getting along with the guys and making meals and stuff. Coming from a farm where mom took care of a lot of that, I maybe didn’t learn as much as I should have. Even though my mom is an excellent cook, a lot of my skills came from Bonnie Moench. There was never a bad meal with Bonnie hahaha!

#7. Aside from Lethbridge, where was your favourite barn to play in?

Probably the one with the most stories that stick out for me was the old Kelowna barn. This was probably more from when I played with Kamloops. They were rough-and-tumble teams that stuck out quite a bit just like any rink you come across on the prairies. Going home to Brandon was always special. Spokane was always rowdy. They had a good atmosphere for the size of the rink, they always filled it. They always had a little theme going on. It was a fun place and you always got up for those games.

#8. Who had the biggest influence on your hockey career?

Well, everyone’s obviously going to say their dad. My dad was instrumental in giving me a frame of mind in playing hockey. Coaching-wise, who taught me the most about defense was definitely Bryan Maxwell. I’ve been coaching now for four years with my sons and I’m teaching them stuff I knew at their age. I’m starting to instill that in kids that are seven and eight years old, as opposed to me when I was learning it at 17. I’m getting them good and young now.

#9. Speaking of advice, any advice for junior hockey players as they’re making their way through their careers?

Learn from my mistakes and work out more hahaha! I was kind of coming through at the infancy of the push to work out and you had to. And those who got it were the ones who made it. So I would say, if you’re committed, you have to be prepared. It’s a 24/7 gig, there’s no time off. If that’s what you want to do, then you better be prepared to put in the time. Because if you think you’re good enough just with skill, we’re in Canada man. There’s a hundred others, unless you’re Connor McDavid who, by his own rights, is probably best known for his training. You gotta put in the time.

#10. Final question now: how grateful are you for the game of hockey and what it gave you?

 
Oh it gave me everything. It gave me my schooling. It gave me the ability to coach. Just the frame of mind to go into things. Team atmosphere, teamwork. I live in a very team-oriented world with the fire department so definitely that. Yeah, it pretty much gav