Matt Irwin of Brentwood Bay acknowledges it is surreal that his first career Stanley Cup playoff game tonight will be in his home province against the Vancouver Canucks.
鈥淚t鈥檚 pretty exciting to be playing against the team you grew up watching,鈥� said the San Jose rookie defenceman by phone Tuesday before the Sharks departed California.
鈥淭he key for us is to play our style 鈥� our North-South game 鈥� and get it in deep,鈥� said the six-foot-one, 25-year-old, who had six goals, 12 points and a minus-one rating in 38 games.
It鈥檒l be a best-of-seven series of mixed emotions for family and friends on the Island.
Dad Mike Irwin quipped: 鈥淲e can鈥檛 lose in this series.鈥�
Yet blood is thicker than Canuck Nation.
鈥淏ut obviously, we鈥檙e cheering for the Sharks,鈥� said Mike Irwin, who retired as staff sergeant after a long career with the Saanich Police.
Meanwhile, two other Island-produced defencemen head into the Stanley Cup playoffs, including Minnesota Wild veteran Clayton Stoner from Port McNeill. Another may change the antipathy toward Toronto many on the Island claim to hold. Ryan O鈥橞yrne of Victoria will skate with the former hapless Maple Leafs, as they make their first post-season appearance in nine years.
鈥淭here is so much excitement, energy and passion around [Toronto] 鈥� it鈥檚 a lot of fun,鈥� said O鈥橞yrne, the six-season NHL veteran, who was traded to the Maple Leafs mid-season from the Colorado Avalanche.
鈥淭he city is going nuts.鈥�
With eight defencemen on the Maple Leafs roster heading into the series against the Boston Bruins, O鈥橞yrne will be a game-time decision but he鈥檚 taking it in stride like a pro.
鈥淚鈥檓 a professional and have to stay ready,鈥� he said by phone from Boston.
鈥淚f I get in, I鈥檒l play my game, which is simple, physical hockey. My 19 games of NHL playoff experience with Montreal, including making the [2010] Eastern final, can鈥檛 be discounted.鈥�
Both Irwin and O鈥橞yrne are revealing case studies of players who eschewed the major-junior WHL route in favour of the Junior A sa国际传媒 Hockey League League, O鈥橞yrne through the Victoria Salsa (now Grizzlies) and Nanaimo Clippers and Irwin through the Clippers.
Irwin got cut from more rep teams than he cares to remember, was never selected in the Bantam draft, and went through Junior B with the Saanich Braves. He never played spring or summer hockey but instead baseball with Jamie Benn who is also from the Saanich Peninsula 鈥� and now a highly-paid forward with the NHL鈥檚 Dallas Stars 鈥� while dads Mike Irwin and Randy Benn coached on the diamond.
鈥淪taying away from hockey in the summers, and playing baseball, kept me fresh for hockey,鈥� said Matt Irwin. 鈥淚t was a big key as to why I never got sick of hockey.鈥�
These certainly weren鈥檛 those pushy hockey families of gaudy Canadian hockey lore.
鈥淢y parents never forced me,鈥� said Matt Irwin.
There is certainly a lesson in that.
鈥淢y advice to parents is: 鈥楧on鈥檛 go crazy.鈥� I never ever thought, in all those years of youth hockey, that I had a kid that was going to the NHL, much less Junior A hockey,鈥� said Mike Irwin.
鈥淚f the talent is there, it will be found.鈥�
It wasn鈥檛 until Matt went to Nanaimo, and played three seasons in the BCHL with the Clippers, that his talent was was truly discovered.
鈥淏ill Bestwick [then Clippers head coach/GM] really lit a fire under Matt and told him he could do this,鈥� said Mike Irwin.
鈥淏ill instilled that confidence in Matt.鈥�
The rise was slow-building, but had become so startlingly evident, that Irwin was signed by the Sharks after just two years in the NCAA at Umass-Amherst and assigned to the Worcester Sharks of the AHL in 2010, where he played through the beginning of this season before the NHL lockout ended.
But the decision to depart the NCAA, which meant leaving school, was wrenching for the family. What if pro hockey didn鈥檛 pan out?
Irwin promised his parents he will complete his business degree, which he plans to do long-distance through the University of Phoenix. 鈥淵ou never know how long hockey will last,鈥� said Irwin.
But after making a significant rookie impact, this is a ride that could last awhile for Irwin.
鈥淚n the NHL, the speed is quicker 鈥� it鈥檚 the biggest stage and everything is magnified,鈥� he said.
Not that much fazes this guy. His dad describes him as 鈥渂oring鈥� but in a good way. 鈥淗e鈥檚 so laid back that nothing gets to him,鈥� said Mike Irwin.
Not even his old favourite Canucks team.
