WINNIPEG — On the last Monday of October, Oren Eizenman, left, was still with the Manitoba Moose, working out with the American Hockey League (AHL) club and trying to crack the lineup of the talent-laden team.

Though highly regarded by the Moose, Eizenman was sent back to Fresno of the East Coast Hockey League (ECHL) by the Winnipeg-based team with the expectation that he’ll get a chance later in the season. In 10 games with the Fresno Falcons, he notched three goals and added 10 assists, leaving him tied for second in team scoring.

Like Jewish players who preceded him – Cory Pecker, a forward, and netminders Dov Grumet-Morris and Robert Gherson  – Eizenman was hoping Winnipeg’s pro team would be a giant stepping-stone to the National Hockey League.

Practising with the Moose before being sent down, Eizenman, 23, looked to be working harder and skating faster than any of the other pro skaters.

The Toronto-born kid was the last one off the ice at the end of practice because he was working overtime with new assistant coach Jay Wells, a former NHL defenceman.

I managed to corral the six-foot, 180-pound Eizenman, who played four years of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)Division 1 college hockey at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) in Boston, as he left the ice heading for the dressing room and inquired why he was kept after school.

“I’m just coming off an injury, and I just got cleared to play yesterday. They want to make sure I’m in shape,” said the sweaty and panting good-natured Eizenman. “I went through training camp and played in the season opener and then was injured, which set me back a little bit.”

It was an “upper body injury,” a kind of generic double talk to confuse opponents who might try to take advantage of Eizenman when he returns to the lineup.

Last season, the flashy centre played mainly in the ECHL with the Fresno, where in only 53 games he managed 27 goals and added 39 assists. One game with the Milwaukee Admirals and seven with the Worcester Icecats of the AHL rounded out his first pro season, following his NCAA tour of duty during which, in 129 total games, he scored 37 goals and had 62 assists.

Eizenman realizes that the jump from the ECHL to the AHL will be a real challenge, yet for him, it’s doable. “It’s just a difference in skill level. Here there’s more speed, the guys are quicker and stronger and their positional play is better,” he said candidly.

His face lit up with immense pride when I inquired about his background. He spoke of his family: brothers Erez, 26, and Alon 29, along with his Israeli parents, father Moshe and mother Ronit.

“My grandparents are European Jews who moved to Israel when times got tough in Europe. That’s where my Jewish roots come from,” he said. “In my childhood, I lived one-half in Israel and one-half in Canada, moving back and forth because my dad had business in Israel as well as in Canada. When I got to be six or seven, we moved permanently to Canada but still spent summers in Israel.”

As time passed, all of the boys became involved in hockey. Alon, at Penn State for four years, plus a year in France. Erez also played competitive hockey. All three have played with the Israeli national team.

“When I was growing up, hockey was just something that was fun. We didn’t take it very seriously. As I got older, I began to see the possibilities of going to school and earning a scholarship. I thought I could get to very good schools through hockey,” he added.

Not unlike other Jewish families, education was always foremost in the minds of Moshe and Ronit. “Yeah, academics are very serious in my family,” Oren said. “My mom is a teacher, and my dad is a professor of biomedical engineering at the University of Toronto.

“My brother Erez just completed his MBA at the University of Toronto and was first in his class, and my oldest brother Alon just started working for the biggest law firm in Canada. I completed my undergraduate work in the business programs at RPI, one of the top schools in the United States. For now, I’ll just focus on hockey and my parents are really supportive of that, which is great.”

Eizenman crossed paths with Pecker, when they played together with the Ontario Hockey League Erie Otters. As for Grumet-Morris, Eizenman played against him in the World Jewish Hockey Championships in Israel in the summer of 2007.

Although he wasn’t drafted by an NHL team, there appeared to be some interest in Eizenman because of his accomplishments in Fresno. The New York Rangers invited him to a midsummer prospects training camp and offered him a contract in the system. Not believing it was a good fit for him, he sought out the Canucks and Moose and was signed to a pro tryout pact after he impressed the powers-that-be at their rookie camp.

I approached Moose head coach Scott Arniel following practice and his first comment to me was: “I know, I know, you’re asking about the Jewish kid, aren’t you?” Arniel said, laughing good-naturedly. “Just last week, he was asking us where the synagogues are in this town on your High Holidays.”

So where does Eizenman fit in with the club? “He showed at our rookie camp very well, and he earned this opportunity,” Arniel said. “He’s a guy that has some good offence and is a smart kid. He can be used in a lot of situations, on the power play, faceoffs, and penalty killing. He’ll get his chances. We have a seven-game road trip coming up. ”

Eizenman dressed for two of the first four games of the seven-game road swing and was sent back to Fresno for further seasoning. Manitoba is a stacked club this year and has won eight of its first 10 games. Eizenman was in tough.

Only time will tell if he can overcome the odds, but did you know that in Yiddish, the name Eizenman means “Iron Man”?