WINNIPEG, MB. – Kruz Listmayer is an imposing figure. He’s a 6-foot-3, 205-pound defenseman for the Manitoba Junior Hockey League’s Neepawa Natives and a guy who had 113 penalty minutes in 2014-15 and then nobody messed with him anymore. Listmayer played his first game in Neepawa during the 2013-14 season and this year, as a 20-year-old, will play his fifth season in the league. Not many do that, but when you consider that he’s the nephew of former NHL heavyweight champion Colton Orr, you know there is certainly no quit in him.
Neepawa Natives head coach Dustin Howden has a lot of time for 20-year-old Kruz Listmayer, a 6-foot-3, 205-pound defenseman who is about to play his fifth season in the home of Margaret Laurence.
“He’s a great kid,” said Howden enthusiastically. “He came to us as an AP at 16 and then earned a full-time spot at 17. He’s steadily matured on and off the ice. In fact, I’m really pleased with the way he’s matured over the years with us. He was a young kid when he came to us. Now he’s an adult, a leader and a big part of a team that has been slowly getting better every year. I’ve had a great relationship with Kruz.”
Last season, under Howden’s guidance, the Neepawa Natives took a huge step forward. It had been 10 years since Neepawa had last made the playoffs, but Howden’s crew finished 21-33-6 last season, solidly in eighth place, two points ahead of Swan Valley, and then played extremely well against the powerhouse Steinbach Pistons in the first round of the playoffs.
Listmayer has been a big part of his team’s slow, steady improvement, and while Howden will be the first to admit that the Natives aren’t yet ready to claim league dominance, they are no longer doormats and no longer a place where good players hesitate to play.
For Listmayer, playing in Neepawa has been one of the best things that ever happened to his career.
“It’s been quite a journey and since I started, we’ve built that program up really well,” Listmayer said. “After some tough seasons, we made the playoffs last year and I think we’re going to have a really good season this year. I’ve been really happy playing in Neepawa and I’m excited to finish my career in Neepawa. I’m proud of our team and what we’ve been able to accomplish in five years.”
Howden is quite happy, too. Four years ago, he became an assistant with the Natives and this will be his second year as head coach. As the team gets better and starts to slowly move up the standings, Howden will concede that veteran players such as speedy Ashton Anderson, Justin Metcalf, Nolan Richards and Listmayer have made the Natives a legitimate threat.
“Look, I would never say that we’re going to win the league next season,” said Howden, whose Natives took Steinbach to six tough games in the first round of the 2017 playoffs. “But we’re getting better and we’ll give all of those teams some really tough nights. The other teams in the league know they have to be at their best now in order to beat us.”
The veterans like Anderson, Metcalf and Richards will make Neepawa a threat this coming season and the good, young players that have been recruited should be able to carry on the team’s new-found success.
As for Listmayer, getting better has always been the goal and in his corner, he’s always had an 11-year veteran of the National Hockey League who made it to the top on heart, grit and simply by being a great teammate.
“(Former Leafs and Rangers enforcer) Colton Orr is my uncle,” said Listmayer proudly. “Colton and I talk on the phone lots. Unfortunately, he doesn’t live in Winnipeg anymore, but usually once a week he’ll call me or video-chat me. We’ll talk about everything. He’s my mentor. He’s always told me the talented guys can always make it look easy but it’s the guys who work hardest are the most successful.”Coach Howden believes Listmayer has one of the best mentors any player could ever have.
“Colton has been a big part of his life,” said Howden. “That’s one of the reasons I think he’s a very coachable player. He knows his role and he wants to improve his craft. All the things that Colton did to make it to the NHL, Kruz follows in his own career. He’s getting some very good mentorship from a guy like Colton.”
Listmayer started to play hockey when he was “about four,” playing House League at Tyndall Park Community Centre. He then moved over to Red River Community Centre and played there, and followed that up with two years of Double A Stars and two years of Triple A Hawks
“Fortunately I got called up to play for the Thrashers at 16 and then, that same season, I was called by the Natives,” he said. “I’ve loved it in Neepawa and the fact that we now have a team that looks like it can challenge, it’s going to be even more exciting.”
There is little question that last year’s team and its success was the highlight of Listmayer’s four years in Neepawa. Becoming a legitimate playoff-bound team was a lot of work and he’s proud of everyone in the organization.
“My greatest memory from playing in Neepawa was obviously last year, making the playoffs,” he said. “For the first time in 10 years, to finally get to the post-season, was obviously the biggest memory for all of us. We worked so hard to get there. The boys all bonded together and we played great hockey. I know I really had to work hard to get there so it was my best memory by far.”
This will be Listmayer’s final year of junior, but he’s not in any hurry to retire from the game.
“Obviously, I want to continue to play hockey after this season,” he said. “If I can get any kind of scholarship, obviously, I’ll jump at it. But any level of pro hockey would be great, too. We all know this is going to be a big year for all of us. I just want to have a good season because I really want to keep playing and I know that having a good year on a successful team will help me with that.”
Scott Taylor, The Manitoba Post
Photos by James Carey Lauder