Sash presentation highlights inspiring journey

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This article was published 18/10/2022 (1129 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

When Brandon Wheat Kings forward Matt Henry and head coach Don MacGillivray were presented with special Métis sashes in Vancouver on Friday, it might have seemed like the start of a special new journey.

In a way, it was the early culmination of Henry’s previous path that started at age two and featured the unyielding love of a single father who scrambled and sacrificed to keep his two sons in an increasingly expensive game.

It’s a story best told in four parts.

1. GROWING UP

Henry’s story began in Prince Albert, Sask., where he and his younger brother Dayne were raised by their single father, Kevin.

Kevin’s twin brother Keith is the president of the B.C. Métis Federation, representing about 6,000 people in the province. They were born in Thompson but raised in Prince Albert.

Both Keith and Kevin played hockey, with Keith competing at the Junior A and Junior B levels and finishing his career with the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League’s Flin Flon Bombers at age 19 and heading to university at 20.

Meanwhile, after playing hockey and football when he was younger, Kevin took up bodybuilding, won a provincial title in Saskatchewan and finished sixth at a national competition.

Kevin, who does some work for the B.C. Métis Federation one week per month, said his family grew up with the Métis culture. But at the same time, his parents were worried they would be scooped into the residential school system, so it was ingrained in them not to explicitly put their heritage on display.

But they were raised with values that have clearly transcended generations.

“Our family has always come from hard work and the mentality that you earn what you get,” Kevin said. “We grew up that way. My twin brother and I both played hockey and weren’t given any special invitations or this or that, and I think this is a continuation of how I’ve raised my kids. If you want something in life, you have to really work at it, and you should want to earn it.

‘When you earn it, you respect the process that much more and you show that much gratitude for the opportunities you’re given, and you’re willing to do more to make those opportunities.”

Kevin said Matt has a strong personality and wants things done right, and for people to be held accountable because he holds himself to a high standard. It was an attitude that manifested itself early in Matt’s life when he took him to an outdoor skating rink in Saskatoon.

“I put him on a pair of skates — I want to say he was 26 months old exactly — and he was so mad that he fell down,” Kevin said with a chuckle. “He bit his lip and I said ‘Come on buddy, get up’ and he kind of made this angry noise and said ‘No, get your hands off me’ and he pushed himself off and started skating.

“He hasn’t stopped since.”

Kevin noted some people are born leaders because of the results they produce, but Matt is that way because he won’t accept anything less than his best. Sometimes during skates in the summer, Matt gets annoyed with guys for doing drills wrong and his father has to remind him it’s July.

“He’s not going to get you 30 goals,” Kevin said. “Matt is not a Jake Chiasson and not a Nolan Ritchie. Matthew is a gritty, meat-and-potatoes hockey player who can pop in a couple of points when given the opportunity. He can work on the PK, he can do the little things right and he’s tough as nails.

“He boxes in the off-season and lifts weights.”

The retired nurse also added Matt likes to be a “coach pleaser,” who proves his value through hard work. Kevin said that as a result, not getting drafted was the best thing that could have happened to him because it pushed him even harder.

Matt admitted the attitude that everything has to be earned rather than expected has simply become a core part of who he is.

“All the little things matter,” Matt said. “Even if I don’t score a goal, I’m still going to be putting my best foot forward, taking advantage of all my shifts and putting in the work because good things will eventually come.”

But none of that makes the path the family took any easier. Matt’s mom is mostly out of the picture, so Kevin raised the two boys by himself.

“Kevin has dedicated his life to his children,” Keith said. “He sacrificed a lot of things to support his boys in hockey. He’s been through some really tough times because of it, but his boys are showing what sticking to a plan and commitment really is.

“I don’t want to oversell it, but it’s been tough for him. We’ve all rallied around him to try and help here and there, but Kevin has dedicated his entire life to them.”

“We’ve had our struggles,” Kevin admitted. “Working three jobs to keep them going in hockey — I don’t need to tell you how expensive hockey is — and trying to make sure we did everything we could to keep things going right. As a single parent, whatever I had to sacrifice to keep him playing hockey, that’s the payoff, seeing him on the ice where he’s the happiest, and ultimately that’s what you want, you want to see your kid be happy, successful and thriving in life.

“If that’s a school teacher, great. If that’s a hockey player, great. If that’s a lawyer, great.

“As long as they’re doing something productive with their life and if he’s creating some good memories and even fortunate enough to go to the NHL, wherever this leads to, you’re paving your way and nothing bad can come of this.”

After starting in the sport at age five and playing in the Prince Albert minor hockey system, Henry tried out for his hometown under-18 AAA Mintos at age 15. When he didn’t make it, he headed to the Battlefords Stars program in the Saskatchewan Male U18 AAA Hockey League.

He had eight points and 57 penalty minutes as a 15-year-old rookie in 2019-20, and in the pandemic-shortened 2020-21 season, scored once in three games as the team’s alternate captain. Henry’s younger brother Dayne, a stocky defenceman who turns 16 shortly, followed Matt’s path to the Stars and attended camp with the Moose Jaw Warriors in early September.

“(Kevin) has always been competitive and he brought that competitive edge to his kids, and he could see it in them and so could I at a very young age,” Keith said. “These kids were really great athletes and could really do something in hockey if they want. He’s been really good with them, without the kind of crazy-dad stuff.

“He would just get in the car and drive them wherever they needed to go for hockey at a moment’s notice or put his professional career aside to help them, and that was tough. I saw him sacrifice a lot and I’m pretty proud of him too.

“What he’s done is show how important it is that we invest in our kids, and I’ll never forget that.”

Even so, Matt said it wasn’t always easy growing up.

Still he understands and appreciates what his father went through for his sons.

“I was a little guy and I grew up very quickly, to say the least,” Matt said. “I had to mature growing up. I knew my dad was working really hard and doing everything he could to keep us in hockey. Obviously, it paid off and I owe a lot to him. We had our squabbles — that’s pretty normal — but all in all, he is definitely the reason I’m here.”

2. WHEAT KINGS

The list forward came into camp trying to fulfilling a longtime dream to make the Western Hockey League, but he was attempting the exceedingly rare feat of jumping from Junior A to major junior at age 18.

He certainly came to Brandon with an intriguing resume.

Henry played in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League a year ago with the Battlefords North Stars, putting up four goals, 12 assists and an impressive 216 penalty minutes in 52 games. Brandon scouts saw him and quickly listed the six-foot, 210-pound forward last October.

After a tremendous camp, where he displayed his skating, work ethic and a tiny bit of his physicality — he said at the time he didn’t want to hurt someone who might be a future teammate — the Wheat Kings signed Matt on Sept. 8.

“The first couple of weeks were pretty hectic,” he said. “It was just a lot. Obviously, I’m a little more used to it. It’s honestly great. I really do love it. It makes me want to play harder and give fans a reason to come out every night and support us.”

Henry has 22 penalty minutes in six games, with 10 minutes coming from a pair of dominant regular season fights he had after one tilt in the pre-season. One of the scraps was with Vancouver’s Colton Langkow on Friday with dozens of Henry supporters in the crowd.

He has plus-minus of -1, and is still waiting to post his first regular-season point after scoring twice in the pre-season.

“It’s been going pretty well,” Matt said. “Obviously we have a few more games in and we’re halfway through our road trip and it’s kind of getting better. I’m starting to get the hang of things and slowly starting to move the puck a lot more. Getting used to it was really all it took.”

His father has already been to Brandon twice to see games and admitted it was emotional to see his son in a Wheat Kings jersey.

“I have such a sense of pride,” said Kevin, comparing it to marquee life moments such as graduation or marriage. “The first time I saw him in a Wheat Kings jersey, I got teary-eyed. I thought ‘Good for you, you can’t ask for a better moment as a parent.”

The pair speak weekly, with the father sometimes having to remind the son not to get impatient, that he is a rookie and his best moments on the ice surely lie in the future.

He understands how much his son appreciates the opportunity.

“I know Matthew will give that program 150 per cent every time he walks on the ice,” Kevin said. “It won’t be often he has those off days because he knows what it’s like to be passed over and he knows what it is in his mind to fail.

“He doesn’t want to feel that ever again. As a family, we’re really honoured to be part of that program.”

That’s the same read Wheat Kings head coach MacGillivray has. He has quickly come to appreciate the Prince Albert teenager.

“First of all, he’s just an awesome kid,” he said. “He’s very polite, very respectful, does the little things away from the rink. He shows up early, he stays late, he works hard but he’s also very appreciative of the opportunity he’s getting. He understands what his role is and also understands that he has some learning to do and can grow as a hockey player.

“And that for me is really exciting because I think he has some potential to grow as a player and if he does that, we’re going to have a real good player for us for a couple of years.”

It’s not just the coaching staff who appreciates him. MacGillivray said he quickly became a glue guy in the dressing room as well.

“His teammates love him,” the coach said. “He’s very personable and engaging so he’s got a lot of respect amongst his teammates, and certainly they respect the role that he plays too. They know he has their back and that’s a tough job but he’s definitely earned the respect of his teammates, more so just in terms of how he conducts himself daily. That’s been really important.

“He also fits in at his billets: His billets, to my understanding, absolutely love him. He does things around the billet house that maybe other players don’t do. It’s been a nice start to the season for Matt Henry.”

That’s news to the ears of Matt, who has said since camp that being a great teammate is the ultimate compliment for a player who isn’t afraid to drop his mitts for any of the other 23 players.

“It means everything to me because I do play a little different role than most guys,” Matt said. “I do it for them and for the team. I want to give the boys energy, I want them to feel safe and protected, like someone always has their back. It’s definitely huge for me.”

It’s also huge of his father, who already cherishes the experience his boy is having.

“Wherever in the world Matt goes from the Brandon Wheat Kings, I know nothing bad will ever come from it because I know he loves what he does,” Kevin said.

3. CEREMONY

The Wheat Kings travelled from Prince George after Wednesday’s win for a meet-up with the rugged Vancouver Giants. Brandon won a hard-fought, physical 4-2 decision in Langley that night in front of 3,010 fans.

Kevin was on hand to watch his son, as were Keith’s family including his son Ciaran and his teammates from the Delta Hockey Academy’s under-15 squad. In total, there were 63 family members, friends and teammates in the crowd.

“It was amazing to watch in person at this level,” Keith Henry said. “I’ve seen him over the years as a young man and always followed him and been close with Matt and tried to help out with my brother as much as I could along the way. It had such a sense of pride sitting there.”

“I was excited all week for the game, and I knew when the game came, he would perform how I thought he would,” Keith added.

The sash presentation was originally scheduled to take place in a box rented for the game, but when fans were eventually forced out of the Langley Events Centre after the game ended, the event took place outside instead in front of about 60 people.

The idea of presenting the sashes to Matt and MacGillivray came from a conversation between the twin brothers, and they thought it would be especially good for the young hockey player.

“I want to lift Matt up,” Keith said. “I know he knows his Métis culture, we’ve always instilled that in all of our families and kids. He’s never really been gifted a sash. Traditionally, the sash was given after people had earned it for whatever they had contributed back to the community. I feel like Matt earned it.

“We had just created a new special sash that every child matters, and I thought what better time to give it him and his coach and honour them for what he is doing, because Matt will be a role model for our community and our kids.”

The black and the white colours in the middle of the sash represent finding the bones of the children — the dark part of Métis history — while the yellow and orange symbolize coming to light and the warmth of helping lost children find their way home.

On the outside, the blue and green are traditional Métis colours.

Kevin said a sash is not traditionally given to non-Métis people, but added MacGillivray has been excellent with Matt.

“I could tell Don was almost overwhelmed,” Kevin said. “Keith presented him with a ceremonial sash … We put one on Matt and put one on Don, and you could tell Don was almost getting choked up. That was a big deal.”

His brother saw it the same way.

“I knew he didn’t quite understand what was going on — at least that was my impression — but he was so respectful and professional,” Keith Henry said. “We wanted a message for Matt that he matters and that we love him and want him to excel and make it, and to Don, it was our way of saying to him, ‘Look, we’re entrusting you with our family here and we want you to take care of him and do the best you can on and off the ice.’

“We want him to realize what he’s doing is really important, and he took it very seriously.”

In his long coaching career, MacGillivray said he has never heard of anything similar happening to a coach. Needless to say, he was honoured by it.

“I was talking to my daughter, and explained to her that it’s nothing I did, it’s just I’m the leader of the team and the way I understood it, they’re basically entrusting me with Matt Henry,” MacGillivray said. “There’s a lot of traditions and respect and that kind of thing with the Métis culture. It was quite something, not only to all the people supporting Matt but the emotion and how proud they were of him. I was just proud to be part of it.”

Matt, who spoke from his hotel room in Kamloops after a team meeting on Monday night, said he thought his Brandon teammates were aware of his Métis ancestry. When he asked his roommate, however, it turned out that wasn’t the case.

Some of his teammates were on hand for the sash ceremony, and Matt said he’s been asked about it since.

“I take a lot of pride in it,” Matt said. “Not a lot of people really know that about me. They kind of assume it but they don’t really know how deep we go.”

Some of the Wheat Kings players also came down to watch, which was an unexpected bonus for the Delta players who were in attendance.

Kevin said that’s ultimately the point of hockey. Everyone wants to skate in the NHL, but the overwhelming majority won’t, so you hope the players gain some good life experiences and become better people along their journey in the game.

Not surprisingly, Matt made sure the moment wasn’t all about him. He made a point of speaking to his cousin’s Delta U15 team, delivering a message of encouragement based on his experience.

“I didn’t realize that many people were coming,” Matt said with a chuckle. “It was honestly super awesome and made me want to play even better. It motivated me for sure and it turned out good with being able to talk to the kids after the game.

“Obviously I wasn’t drafted and I just gave them my thoughts about it and told them if you get drafted, look at it in a positive way and keep working hard and eventually good things will come.”

His father was impressed by Matt’s off-the-cuff remarks to the youngsters.

“He said ‘Guys, I wasn’t drafted and I’m the perfect example of hard work,” Kevin said. “‘If you want something, work for it and somebody is going to notice and give you a chance.’ He said ‘Does it mean you make it? No. But at least you’re giving yourself a chance to make it, and sometimes that’s a success in itself.’

“Matthew was really well versed because he was one of those players a couple of years ago.”

The next day before their game, the Delta team was chanting “Play like Matt Henry” in the dressing room.

4. LONG TERM

So what kind of impact can Henry have? Recent Brandon history suggests it could be significant.

Jordin Tootoo, who became the first Inuk player to skate in the National Hockey League, was a sensation for the Wheat Kings and the entire Indigenous community during his four-season career that stretched from 1999 to 2003, and Keith thinks it’s possible Matt could do the same for the Métis community.

“I remember watching Jordin Tootoo 20 years ago in Brandon, and when I watched Matt the other night, it’s exactly what he reminded me of,” Keith said. “That energy guy who can score, he can hit. You notice him on the ice right away, he’s that kind of guy. I think he’s reflective of the potential of Indigenous hockey players in the sport, whether you’re First Nation, Métis or Inuit, and we should celebrate all those players and just lift them.

“This contributes to reconciliation and contributes to what we’re all trying to make this country, a more inclusive and welcoming place for all people. I think Matt has that potential and I think he will, We’re already seeing it through my social networks. People feel connected to Matt even though they don’t know him.”

That’s something that Matt relishes.

“I’m really here for it,” Matt said. “I want kids to look up to you and have families supporting you. I’ve had a few people reach out to me on Facebook and it makes me feel good and makes me feel appreciated. It makes me want to play even better for them. It’s definitely a motivator.”

He’s also embracing the chance to serve as a role model in the Métis community. The personable teenager is eager to reach out in Brandon and do whatever he can.

“Hopefully I can do my part and motivate kids,” Matt said.

Kevin said his hope is people in the Métis community will recognize how Matt’s hard work paid off and will resonate with them.

In an era when people are on the news demanding things, which Kevin noted there is a time and place for, he said it’s nice to bring people from different cultures together in sport.

“You want to use, sport, recreation, culture, that stuff, to help guide these young people,” Kevin said. “Unfortunately there are a lot of negative things they get steered into on their phones, and the accessibility when people can reach out to them with not the greatest intentions.

“For us, culture is a big thing, and Métis people love hockey.”

Keith added that it’s invaluable to have someone like Matt because families across the country are searching for positive role models. He said people know they’re out there, but they aren’t always easy to find.

“I love the situation because I personally believe we have to lift up these young athletes when they get to these high levels because they’re good citizens of this country and good citizens of our community,” Keith said. “They show the world the best that we have in the talent of our people so I think it’s so incredibly important to lift up and make people like Matt know how important and special they are in our Métis community.”

He added he hopes the cultural connection provided by the sash will be something that Matt can draw strength from during the rigours of a 68-game season, along with the knowledge he is supported by thousands of Métis people.

“He plays a tough game, and I know from my own athletic experience that there are going to be nights when it’s really tough and it’s going to be intimidating and worrisome and all those things he wouldn’t admit because he has a big ego,” Keith said. “But the truth is, it’s not easy to play the way Matt plays and we just want him to derive strength from the sash, which I told him to take with him everywhere he goes.

“Ceremonially, we’ve tried the best we can to provide positive energy to him because it’s not an easy road. Hockey is a great sport but it’s tough.”

» pbergson@brandonsun.com

» Twitter: @PerryBergson