Blogs from the Broadcast Booth - Les Stoodley

I'd like to salute the other guy who writes blogs for the Moncton Wildcats, team captain Matt Eagles. Matt skated in his 200th game in a Wildcats jersey on January 28th against Gatineau.

Born into a hockey family, Matt played his first game with the Cats in September of 2005 at the K.C. Irving Regional Centre in Bathurst. He was a rookie on that great team that captured Moncton's first Presidents Cup.

Matt grew up in hockey arenas. His father Mike played 853 games in the NHL with the Quebec Nordiques, Chicago Blackhawks, Winnipeg Jets and Washington Capitals. Mike is now the Head Coach of the St. Thomas Tommies in the Atlantic Universities League.

The younger Eagles was learning the tricks of the trade from big names in the show while he was still a youngster. Imagine getting tips from a guy like Adam Graves. Or skating with the Jets or Capitals, no small thrill for any young hockey player.

Here's one of the many stories about Matt's abilities as a youngster. A few years back, Gerard Belliveau, was a minor hockey coach in Frediction, he's now the town manager in Shediac. He tells the story of getting help from Matt at a provincial tournament. Gerard was short a couple of players and one of his coaching buddies suggested he bring up this Eagles kid, who was a couple of years younger than the team participating in the tournament. Gerard says he was doubtful about starting such a small, young player but on his first shift, Matt whipped around three players from the opposing team, gave the goalie a head-fake and backhanded a roofer just under the crossbar. Matt went on to score a bunch of goals in the tournament and Belliveau knew there was a Q player in the making.

The rest as they say is history. Matt made the Wildcats and for the past four years has been a driving force in the teams success. Danny Flynn had no hesitation in giving him the "C" when this season began in September. If leadership is a learned skill, then Matt has learned well.

The best way I know to define dedication is to slip downstairs on an off day and there in the gym, you'll find Matt Eagles, working out, many times alone. He's quiet guy, but don't be fooled by that soft spoken voice or the nice guy image he projects. When the gear is on, so is Eagles.
He's deserves applause for what he brings to the game and the Wildcats.