Teal Talk: Matt Davis

Teal Talk: Matt Davis

Hey, Matt. Uh, great to have you here. Thanks for joining me. Calgary native. You just finished up your, uh, college career at Denver University. So, you just can’t get away from the Rocky Mountains, can you? Absolutely not. No, I mean, it’s where I was born and raised and yeah, I spent spent one year away from them over in Green Bay, but other than that, I’m all always around the mountains. Two-time national champion. Um, talk about the college route for you, why that was the right route, and the success that you had. Yeah, I mean I I knew I needed time just growing up. I uh never really looked at major junior as an option for myself. I just kind of always thought I was I was a college guy. Uh I was a good student growing up. So I mean thought it was the route for me and uh and yeah, I mean absolutely loved it there. It was it was a great time. Uh definitely had a lot of success I was fortunate to be be a part of and yeah, April of last year you signed with the San Jose organization. Here you are with the Cuda. We’ll talk more about that in just a second, but as somebody who had choices and options, what was it about coming here? Yeah, I mean, it’s a it’s a great organization. Um, their goalie department, it’s awesome with uh Spearsy up in the NHL and uh Navi and Mills as well. Like, they’re all they’re all top-notch people and um and guys that have played and had success at the level I want to play and have success at myself. So, um I mean, you just can’t really beat it here. for the weather. We’ve got a good team and uh and yeah. What can you say about the experience of and and I want to put this carefully, not being drafted, right? It’s a different way in. I personally love players that were undrafted. I feel like it creates instantly the chip on your shoulder, the motivation to prove people wrong. You got to use it the right way, right? But what what is it that maybe that you’re going through or you’ve gone through that that you’ve now got in your back pocket? Yeah. I mean, it’s the same reason why I went uh why I went college. I just knew I need time. So, I wasn’t ready at those ages. And I mean, it’s one of those things that you you can’t really control. You can just control the resume you put out. And yeah, I mean, draft wasn’t right for me, I guess. But, uh, that’s it’s all good. I mean, that’s the beauty of the sport is you got you got time and you can really develop in other pathways and sign as a free agent. So, I was going to say maybe it’s the reassurance that things will always work out if if they’re meant to be and if you put in the right work, things can happen like that. It’s kind of a cool part of this, right? Like the draft doesn’t define who you are or what you go on to do, you know? 100%. uh Zeve William now on the Minnesota Wild, but you played with him in college and obviously he was not a native to North America, so had a lot of uh maybe things to get used to with our culture. I understand that you were one of the guys that kind of like took him under your wing and helped him out. Yeah. Is that just the kind of guy you are, kind of teammate you are? I mean, I wouldn’t say that he really like he he grew up in the States like he still he still had everything. I mean, I don’t know. Is it blown out of proportion a little bit maybe that that whole story? Yeah, I’d say. So, I mean, we just uh he wanted to live with two older guys to kind of see how how to live on his own and cook. And so, it was So, it was the age the age thing more than the background thing. Yeah. Yeah. It was it was me and me and Carter King that kind of tried to show him how to cook and use the microwave and stuff. It was it was a good time. So, you’re you’re very domesticated then, huh? You’re you’re take care of a house yourself. Is that Is that what you’re saying? Yeah. Yeah. Oh, yeah. 100%. And you were saying growing up at your house in Calgary, you you had a Zamboni for the backyard pond. Yeah. I mean, well, it was actually just on grass and we’d have a fire hose that we flood it with. Flood the grass. And so, yeah, it got cold enough and yeah, it was like the community one and we kind of it was us and a couple other families kind of looked after it and it was always a lot of fun driving Zamboni on the street around to the rink. So, it was a lot it was pretty funny. Um, what is it about having so many of your family members in sports, even professional sports, older brother, younger brother, your dad was a CFL football player. I’ll get to Dylan Brooks in a second, too. Uh, but I mean, your in your immediate family, um, you just got so many athletes. Is that that that’s not by accident, right? Probably not. I mean, I think we just kind of we were all drawn to sports. We were all competitive just like our parents. And uh and yeah, I mean we got some height. Well, I didn’t end up getting the height, but I feel you on that. Some guys got it. And and yeah, I mean, we were all in gymnastics when we were young. So, I think that kind of gave us a base to do whatever we wanted after that. And Cole ended up being an absolute beast and started playing rugby in high school. And me and Jaden kind of went the the more Canadian route and stuck to hockey. But you decided to be a goalie. Um, I always love to ask goalies that and it’s not like you made a mistake. I’m just saying what inspired you at the earlier ages to say, “Yeah, I want to be that guy in the blue paint.” I’m not actually too sure. It’s just whenever I dreamt about I knew I wanted to play in the NHL, but whenever I dreamt about it, I always ended up being a net. So, I guess that’s just kind of interesting. It’s just kind of what happened. Isn’t it the thing though that most kids, especially when they’re young, I want to score a goal. I want like that’s what they want to do. Goalies aren’t really doing that. So, it’s definitely a different track. It’s a different route, right? Oh, yeah. Well, I also think that you could probably get get them out of a phase. I think every kid goes through a goalie phase. Goalie phase. Yeah. You just stuck with your goalie phase. I I did. Yeah. I never I never came out of it. All right. So, tell me about Dylan Brooks. uh the NBA’s Dylan Brooks, by the way, your cousin who is um he’s got quite the style of play, right? Where he’s he’s kind of an agitator and he’s really he’s almost like a hockey player on a basketball court. Oh, yeah. So, tell me about like how is he related to you and your family and like who how is he a cousin of yours? It’s my it’s my dad’s sister’s son. So, yeah, there we go. Okay. So, I mean, yeah, he’s I love his game. I mean, he he plays he plays hard. He plays well every every night. I mean, it’s something you don’t really see too much in that sport. That’s he gets a he gets a lot of flack for it, but he’s I think he’s starting to get a lot more love for it, too, which I I love to see. But reputation, right? Yeah, exactly. I mean, the villain, it’s awesome. Is uh is there crossover? You guys talk about your experiences. You share some stories about what you do and what he does. Yeah, I mean uh whenever we can really. I mean, they grew up in Missaga and we were in Calgary, so it wasn’t really too easy, especially with all our sports, to see each other too much. But, um, I think I’m seeing him this summer and if he’s ever in town, we always try to get something figured out. Like last year in Denver, we went for dinner and just kind of chatted about I asked him about the pro life and all that and just tried to pick his brain and uh, and yeah, he’s an awesome resource for me to have. It’s great. Hey, last thing. And we haven’t even Well, first off, we haven’t got to the fact that you’re still wearing all your pads. By the way, this might be the first non game interview where I’ve talked to somebody in their pads like this. Um, but in terms of this season for you with the Cuda, um, what are your hopes? What are your goals? What are your expectations? What’s a good season for you? I mean, I I just want to do whatever I can to help this team win. Just be there no matter what. I want to I want to play. I want to play well. I want to I want to win games. That’s just kind of pretty straightforward. Yeah, exactly. That’s that’s kind of my what I try to bring is just win games. All right. Well, we like that. Matt, thank you so much for the time. Appreciate the conversation. Great to get to know you and I look forward to seeing you this season. Awesome. Thank you so much. All right.

Wichita Thunder goaltender Matt Davis joins Brodie Brazil to talk all things family, hockey, and more.