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April 23, 2009 · 2:54 pm

Matt Irwin: Amesbury’s Busy Goalie

Matt Irwin – Amesbury’s junior goalie

Sometimes it’s hard to figure out how good a hockey goalie really is, especially if a cast of all-star teammates surrounds him. Defensive breakdowns in his end of the ice are few and the other goalie sees most of the shots.

Matt Irwin of Amesbury has not been surrounded by all-stars but he has made a name for himself (Daily News All-Star last two years) anyway protecting the Indians net.

During a 2-16-1 season, he was under siege nightly (44 shots per 45-minute game). “Having to make a lot of saves was what I expected to do,” he told me in a recent interview. “I know that I won’t be sitting back there with little action.” By comparison, Tim Thomas of the Boston Bruins faces an average of 31 shots per game in a 60-minute game.

“He has been our best player for the past two seasons,” said AHS coach Pete Cignetti of his junior goalie.

Coach Cignetti told me that Matt was a backup as a freshman but made “astronomical improvement before his sophomore season.”

Matt credited that transformation to Rob Day from Exeter (NH) who is also known as, “The Goalie Guy.” Rob has specialized in training goalies for nearly 20 years. “I owe everything to him,” Matt told me. “I train with him on synthetic ice once a week during the off-season and schedule appointments with him during the season.”

Matt assured me that despite the many shots fired in his direction, “he’s never had any bad goalie dreams.”

It wasn’t as easy for his mother, Laura. “Being the goalie’s mom makes watching a little difficult,” she admitted in an email. She also told me that her family had a hockey background. She said that her father founded a youth hockey program in Western Massachusetts and her brother played hockey. “I lived in a rink most every winter in my childhood,” she added.

Matt wasn’t always a goalie. “When I first played I wanted to score goals,” he recalled, “in fact, I was scoring three or four goals per game.”

What caused the switch to being a goalie? He laughed when he told me, “I was attracted to being a goalie because the equipment looked really cool. I tried being a goalie in the mites and just loved dressing up in all the pads.”

Any hockey pads Matt has worn this season have seen plenty of use. In one of his best games, he had 60 saves in a 3-0 loss to Masco.

Matt said that he wasn’t surprised by Newburyport’s great season. “They had plenty of really good players including the goalie,” he said.

Amesbury played Newburyport twice during the season. “We lost badly to them the first time,” he recalled.

The second time was much different. “We ended up losing 3-1,” said Coach Cignetti, “but one goal was on a power play and another on an empty net. Matt had 49 saves.”

Carey Price of the Montreal Canadiens is Matt’s favorite goalie. “He’s young (21) and already in the NHL,” he said. “I like his style of play and how focused he gets.”

When Matt was younger, he also played baseball and lacrosse. Now his other athletic activities are skateboarding and surfing.

“Matt is a quiet leader and lets his play do the talking for him,” said Coach Cignetti of his captain. “He sets a good example with his work ethic and is always looking to improve.”

( This story appeared in The Town Common on April 22, 2009 )

Hockey Pro Erik Kent Not Surprised by Clipper Hockey title

Newburyport's Erik Kent after a pregame skate with the Danbury Mad Hatters.

Erik Kent may be playing professional hockey four hours away in Danbury (Connecticut) but he is well aware of all the hockey excitement in hometown Newburyport over the recent Division 2 state championship.

I interviewed Erik recently at the Danbury Ice Arena after a morning skate prior to an evening game.

Erik was part of the NHS coaching staff last season and claimed that, “he wasn’t surprised that they were the state champs this year.”

“The team was very good last season but just didn’t play well in the tournament loss to Tewksbury,” he told me. “The leadership returned this season and if they were ever going to win a championship it would be this year.”

Erik has had contact with NHS head coach Paul Yameen. “He told me how exciting winning the championship has been. He said that everywhere he goes he’s been treated like a king.”

While the Clippers and their fans were having their excitement this season, Erik was having some of his own as he finishes his first full season of professional hockey with the Danbury Mad Hatters of the EPHL (Eastern Professional Hockey League).

Erik thought that two years ago his dream of a professional hockey career was over. “I went to a training camp in Huntsville (Alabama) in the SPHL (Southern Professional Hockey League) in the best shape of my life but ended up getting cut and released. I was devastated.”

He ended up back in Newburyport working for his uncle at New England Foundations.

A phone call from New York in February 2008 reactivated his hockey dream. “I was invited to play in Jamestown (New York),” he said. “I went up there and scored points. The general manager of one of the teams I played against liked what he saw. A few months later he was looking to stock the Danbury team in the newly formed EPHL (Eastern Professional Hockey League) and he contacted me. I signed with the team this past August as their first player.”

The level of play in the EPHL is Single A but it doesn’t matter to Erik. “It is a great opportunity for players like me,” he said. “During a season of games, I get to show everyone what I can do and get my name out there.”

At 26, Erik is not sure of how long he can wait to move up the professional ladder. “It’s frustrating that it hasn’t happened yet since I’m among the league leaders in points. I know that I need to be patient but there are student loans to deal with and you don’t make much money at this level. I want to be at the next level next year.”

Erik was into hockey early. “No one in my family played hockey but my dad was a big Bruins fan. When I was three, I took part in Learn-To-Skate with Dick Tierney at Graf. By five, I was in an organized league. The youth leagues in Newburyport were unbelievable.”

By ten, he was playing in leagues away from Newburyport and then made the choice to go to Lawrence Academy (Groton MA). “I thought that I was good enough to play at the prep school level and Lawrence had one of the best hockey programs in the country. I made the team as a freshman.”

He went on to Southern Maine and played four years of hockey there. He stayed an extra year to get his degree in communications because, “my mother always told me I needed a college degree.”

In college, Erik decided to change his style of play. “Growing up I was a goal scorer,” he told me. “That’s all I wanted to do. As a junior in college I figured out that, you have to play both ways. If you do that it turns into goals.” And in Erik’s case, professional opportunities.

( This story appeared in The Town Common on March 25th. )