Henry brings physicality, energy
Story Courtesy of Perry Bergson and The Brandon Sun:
If Matthew Henry beats the odds and manages to become a member of the Brandon Wheat Kings, he will almost certainly be a very popular teammate.
The 18-year-old forward, a product of Prince Albert, Sask., is trying to become one of the rare undrafted players able to earn a Western Hockey League spot later in his career. He brings the personality and skill set that might just make it happen.
“Ever since I was a little guy, I always had real good tenacity to me and a chip on my shoulder,” Henry said. “Now that I’m older and there’s fighting involved, you don’t want to just be labelled as that guy. I play fast and physical. That’s how I’ve always been portrayed. “Obviously I want to contribute as best I can and help the team win. I like to forecheck hard and throw the body around and get the boys going. That’s kind of my main thing.”
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 made the jump to the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League at age 17 with the Battlefords North Stars, putting up four goals, 12 assists and an impressive 216 penalty minutes in 52 games.
“It went really well actually, better than I thought,” Henry said. “When I got into camp I was a little bit nervous about how I was going to make an impact on the team and whatnot but I came and played my role and did it well and it got me lots of ice time.
“I didn’t think it would work out like that, but it did.”
His hard work didn’t take long to pay off. Brandon listed the six-foot, 205-pound forward in October.
Wheat Kings director of hockey operations Chris Moulton said Henry delivers a lot of intangibles
“What Matt Henry brings is tenacity and energy and being a good teammate. You can just tell when he’s on the ice, he leads by example with his work ethic,” Moulton said. “Every team that takes Matt Henry on has an appreciation for how hard he works and how hard he battles. He sets the energy tone for the rest of his team.”
Henry’s younger brother Dayne followed Matthew’s path to the Stars and attended camp with the Moose Jaw Warriors last week. His father Kevin — and Kevin’s twin brother Keith — also played, so there is plenty of hockey in the family.
Henry said the fact he got listed and suddenly had a shot at a major junior career was incredibly motivational.
“I didn’t have that in mind,” Henry said. “I just kind of thought I would be playing SJ for the rest of my junior and then they listed me and it was ‘Oh wow, I have another shot at this.’ I was really happy, like really, really happy.”
The tricky part of training camp for Henry is trying to make an impression with his physicality, but without injuring players who could potentially be teammates in the near future.
“Obviously I’m trying to play my game, but I’m not going to run guys’ heads off in camp,” Henry said. “I don’t want to do that at all.”
In fact, Henry said those are the guys he plays for in the regular season. He takes his duties to the players around him seriously. “I always want to be a good teammate before anything,” Henry said. “I protect my teammates, I don’t want to take dumb penalties and I want to make the guys happy.”
That’s also reflected in how he looks after himself.
Matthew doesn’t play any other sports, but from his solid physique, clearly knows his way around the weight bench.
“I love going to the gym,” Henry said. “It’s not even like a hobby, it’s like another sport to me. I love the gym.”
While Henry was happy in North Battleford, he’s hoping to make a move east. He said his sights are firmly set on being a Wheat King in the very near future.
“It would mean the world,” Henry said. “I’ve been thinking about this weekend since last year. I’ve put a lot of work in over the summer so hopefully it’s paying off right now. “I just have to keep doing what I’m doing.”
» Twitter: @PerryBergson
