Sylvio Mantha was a three-time Stanley Cup champion and one of the premier two-way defenseman during a 14-season NHL career spent primarily with the Montreal Canadiens.

Mantha's formative days in organized hockey were spent as a right wing, starting with the Notre Dame de Grace junior team in 1918-19. His development as a player continued with Verdun of the Intermediate Mount Royal Hockey League, Montreal Imperial Tobacco and Montreal Northern Electric in the local industrial league and a brief stint with the Montreal Nationales of the Quebec senior amateur league.

When Mantha scored four goals in nine games for the Nationales as a 21-year-old, the Canadiens signed him to a contract in December 1923. The Canadiens shifted Mantha to a right-side defenseman as part of a bigger plan to try to inject younger players onto the roster, which featured veterans Sprague Cleghorn and Billy Coutu nearing the end of their careers.

Mantha finished the 1923-24 season with two points (one goal, one assist) in 24 regular-season games and then helped the Canadiens defeat the Vancouver Maroons and Calgary Tigers en route to winning the Stanley Cup.

Mantha's influence on the Canadiens grew after that. His two most productive seasons were 10 goals in 43 games in 1926-27 and an NHL career-best 13 goals in 44 games in 1929-30.

He also scored the first goal at Boston Garden, in the Canadiens' 1-0 victory against the Bruins on Nov. 20, 1928.

Mantha and the Canadiens returned to championship success in 1929-30 and 1930-31 with back-to-back Stanley Cup victories. Mantha was named a Second Team NHL All-Star in 1931 and again in 1932, further cementing his reputation as one of the League's most proficient defensemen.

He also was able to share his prime playing days with his younger brother, Georges, who was a left wing and defenseman for the Canadiens from 1928-29 to 1940-41.

In 1935-36 Mantha took on even more responsibility with the Canadiens by becoming a 33-year-old player/coach. But the Canadiens went 11-26-11, the worst record in the League, and missed the playoffs for the first time since 1925-26.

Mantha did not return to the Canadiens, instead signing with the Bruins late in the 1936-37 season. He played the final four games of his NHL career with the Bruins, finishing with 140 points (63 goals, 77 assists) in 542 regular-season games and 10 points (five goals, five assists) in 47 playoff games.

After retiring as a player, Mantha stayed involved in the game by becoming a linesman and a referee in the NHL and the American Hockey League. When the travel became too tiresome, Mantha opted to remain involved in hockey in the Montreal area as an amateur coach with the senior Montreal Concordia and then in junior with the Laval Nationales, the Verdun Maple Leafs and the St. Jerome Eagles until 1948.

Mantha was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1960. He was 72 when he died in Montreal on Aug. 7, 1994.