Interview with Matthew Grimes

I sit down with Matthew Grimes of the Sioux Falls Stampede to talk about hockey both on and off the ice

About a week ago, I got the opportunity to sit down and talk with top prospect, defenseman Matthew Grimes, of the Sioux Falls Stampede. Grimes, a 6’1” and 185-pound left-shot defender, who hails from Locust Valley, NY, has had a successful season this year. Across 48 games with Sioux Falls, he has scored 12 points (4 goals and 8 assists) and has been slotted in as a potential late 2nd, early 3rd round draft pick.

Grimes is a solid two-way defender with strong transitional traits. I have written 2 scouting reports for FCHockey on his game, while other scouts such as Jacob Roth, Donesh Mazloum and Greysen Goudy have also written about him this year. That’s led to his ranking at 64th on FCHockey’s board. Check out his profile on FCHockey by clicking here.

That’s enough of background, let’s get to the fun interview, where we talk about how he got into hockey, the player he models his game after, and his teammates with the best (and worst) fashion sense.

(There were some problems with echos on my end, my apologies)

Transcript of the interview (some questions and answers were modified for clarity).

Kyle: First hockey memory, what made you fall in love with the game from the start?

Matt: Yeah, it wasn’t even on ice for me. My dad would take me to a lot of Rangers games when I was growing up, so it was off ice. Just watching it and seeing how physical it was, how fast it was, just seeing how good they were and, you know, how dedicated they were to their craft. It just made me fall in love with it and I hope to play there one day.

K: Which brings me to my next question, having gone to those Rangers games, I’m assuming the answer will be a Rangers player, who was your favorite NHL player growing up? Who’s someone you’d want to model your game after?

M: When I was growing up, I was a forward. So, when I was going to those Rangers games, I was a lot younger and I played forward, so it was Carl Hagelin. But now, I would say I like to model my game after Noah Hanifin, who’s just a taller, smooth-skating left-handed defenseman that likes to activate on the rush and shut down teams’ top lines.

K: Hagelin, obviously, a very underrated player. What was it about Hagelin growing up that caught your eye? His play style? What was it exactly?

M: It was weird — we had the same hair. So yeah, I had the same flow as him, but I liked how fast he was, played with a lot of grit and a lot of passion so I liked that, that kind of attracted my eye.

K: And for Hanifin, what was it that caught your eye that made you want to model your game after him specifically, or is it kind of what you talked about — smooth skating, being a left-shot guy?

M: Yeah, I think that. I think that he’s a really overlooked guy. Not talked about a lot. Just kind of like an underrated defenseman in the league, I like guys like that. Obviously, everyone knows about the guys who get talked about a lot, but I like the guys who are not really talked about.

K: Now let’s fast forward a little bit. You’ve played at a high level — you’ve had to play at a high level to have gotten this far — who is the toughest person you’ve ever gone up against? It could be another defenseman, it could be another teammate you’ve practiced against, it could be an opposing forward.

M: I think for teammates it’d be Conrad Fondrk. I played with him my 14-to-15-year-old seasons at Mount (Mount St. Charles Academy). He could shoot the puck, score a lot of goals, and he was a really competitive kid that we went back and forth at practice. He actually lived at my house — not last summer, but the summer before — so we got pretty close at Mount. Hardest player to play against? Maybe Gavin McKenna. Obviously a really good player, fast, can shoot the puck. Kind of everywhere around the ice. You’ve got to keep your eye on him when you’re on the ice with him. I played against him at the Hlinka. He’s a really good player.

K: Having played against McKenna, has that changed your view on how to defend these super high-level players or do you play everyone the same way, just try to make sure you’re sticking to your guns?

M: Yeah, I think obviously when they’re high-end guys, you have to definitely just be more dialed in when you’re out there with them. But no, I think it’s the same thing. You don’t want to give them time and space, especially a guy that has the brains and shot like him. You don’t want to give him space, because he will score. Definitely just closing time and space, being tough to play against. Being hard on the other team’s top scorers, especially him.

K: Throughout the season, you have to be thinking about the draft, thinking about the pressure at least a little bit, especially at a young age it’s tough to ignore social media. Has this year been any more or less stressful than previous years you’ve played, or is it all kind of the same?

M: I think in the beginning of the year I was really focused on it. That was kind of all my mind was on. But at the end of the day, just because you get drafted does not mean you’re going to play in the NHL. Just because you don’t get drafted does not mean you’re not going to play in the NHL. My goal is to play in the NHL. I mean, it’d be really, really cool to be drafted, but I’m more focused on the next 5 years, just developing the things that need work to get me to that point, hopefully someday. Obviously, there’s more pressure but you try not to focus on it and just play your game.

K: As for draft night, I know it’s still a way away, you’re probably not thinking about it too much, but what’s something you’re looking forward to experiencing come draft night?

M: Hopefully just to spend time with the family, those are the people that put in all their time and money and effort into you, so just spend time with them. Just to thank them and be grateful for everything they’ve done, all the time they’ve sacrificed and put in to help me succeed.

K: For the young kids out there, who are hoping for one day they can get an opportunity that could lead to success in hockey and hopefully getting an opportunity to be drafted, can you put into words all the hard work you put in especially in the off-season to get to this point and if you have any advice for those younger kids coming up that could get this opportunity that you have?

M: Just work hard, but you’ve got to have fun. If you’re not having fun, you’re not really doing it right. The grind should be fun, and it should be fun with your friends, a good time. You should be smiling and laughing, having fun, because if you’re not then there’s honestly no point in doing it. I’ve had so much fun playing hockey with my buddies, created lifelong memories and lifelong friends that will be with me until the day I die. Just embracing the grind — it’s going to be tough and it’s going to be hard, but at the end of the day you have to love what you’re doing.

K: You mentioned it’s going to be hard sometimes. What has been the hardest for you to get through, if there is something specifically, that was difficult to get past?

M: I would say last year, just adjusting to the USHL speed. I went from 15U, playing against my age. It’s a lot slower, not a lot of hitting, and just a lot less skilled. USHL level has some 21-year-olds, I was a 16-year-old kid playing against some 21-year-olds. A lot bigger, a lot faster, a lot stronger. So just adjusting to that speed and physicality and skill set was a little tough in the beginning. But 5, 6 games I felt like myself again.

K: So being with Sioux Falls, what has been the funniest, or most memorable, moment with the team so far?

M: I wouldn’t say there is a specific memory, but we go to the same breakfast spot every Sunday, that’s a memory that I’ve been doing for the last, well, every single Sunday, or Monday, whatever day after a game. Our whole team is basically there. It’s called Josiah’s, so quick shout-out to Josiah’s. We are there a lot. But I don’t know if I have a specific memory, but that place has gotten a lot of money from us! We love that place a lot.

K: Playing hockey for all these years, you’ve definitely heard a lot of chirps — whether it’s from teammates at practice, because, you know, sometimes teammates give it to you worse than your opponents — playing high level games, it can get pretty emotional sometimes. What is the best or worst chirp you’ve heard on the ice?

M: I don’t really chirp unless someone chirps me first, so I try to stay quiet out there. But a guy on our team last year told a kid to take his face mask off, making fun of his face and stuff. So that was a pretty good one.

K: Moving on to something further down the line, you’ve committed to the University of Minnesota, what led to that decision? Was there anything specifically that led to you preferring that destination?

M: When I was looking at schools — it’s a lot different, you know, kid from Long Island, no one really expects me to choose Minnesota — I was looking at schools that were hockey-first and obviously Minnesota is hockey first. They live and breathe hockey in the state of Minnesota and so does the University of Minnesota. So that was a big thing that I liked about Minnesota a lot. Then it was their development with defensemen, they’ve developed so many defensemen to the NHL. My goal is to play in the NHL just like every other hockey kid. That was also a big part. And also, I want to win a National Championship, that’s a big goal of mine and for every kid that plays college hockey.

K: What about Minnesota are you most excited about experiencing there? Could be either the school itself or just the area, now that you’ve committed there, moving forward, when you get the opportunity to play there?

M: The atmosphere at the games. They’re so loud, so electric, they obviously get into it a lot. Like I said before, they live and breathe hockey, and those games are always packed out no matter what day of the week it is. So probably the atmosphere of the game and getting to step on the ice for the first time in a game is going to be really, really cool. I’m looking forward to that.

K: Let’s go a little off the ice here. Hockey players are big on their equipment. What is the brand that you always liked? It could have changed from when you were younger to now, but what’s a hockey brand that you loved when you were young, and do you still use them today?

M: For sticks, I have always been a CCM guy. I think Bauer sticks are a bit too whippy maybe, for me at least. I think CCM sticks are perfect stiffness. I like the P29 curve, I’ve been using that for a while. CCM sticks I’ve been using for a while. It’s quite the opposite for skates, it’s all Bauer. I’ve always been a Bauer skate guy. I used CCM skates for a little bit at the beginning of the year, but Bauer skates are just right for me.

K: As for rituals, do you have any pre-game rituals that you get into, anything that maybe is a little weird?

M: I try to not be a superstitious guy, I feel like if you don’t go to bed at that time or wake up at that time, it throws you off your game. So, I’m not a superstitious guy per se, but I do rituals. I tape my stick at the same time, I try to take a nap before every game. Sometimes I’m successful, sometimes I’m not. But just taping my stick, warming up the same way, listen to music at the same time, and play Sewer. That’s the main thing, to play sewer with the guys before the game. That’s probably my main ritual. [Sewer is a soccer-style game, the players stand in a circle using a soccer ball and try to keep the ball in the air, with only two touches at a time].

K: Now to your teammates at Sioux Falls. Who is the funniest guy in the locker room? Who’s the guy that’s the glue guy, the funny guy in the locker room that makes everybody laugh?

M: We have a lot of them. We have a really close team this year, probably the closest team I’ve ever been with in my life. But funniest guy? Maybe Ritter Coombs. He’s a character. He’s a really, really funny kid. Him and his roommate Jake Merens, those are probably the two funniest on the team that I can think of off the top of my head.

K: Sticking to teammates, who has the worst fashion sense in that locker room?

M: Probably Ritter, I don’t think he has great style off the ice. He kind of lacks it, so probably him.

K: Now last one about your teammates, who’s the most likely to be late to a practice or a game?

M: Probably Javon Moore.

K: For the fans, have you had any wild fan interactions, something that completely caught you off guard or anything specifically you remember from Sioux Falls?

M: I don’t know if you’ve ever been to a game, but we have some wild fans. We get really lucky with the fanbase we have here, it’s packed out usually every night. I had to sign a kid’s shoe once. One time, after a game, he was putting his shoe through a little fence area we were walking back to, that was a little weird. That was probably the weirdest thing I’ve signed or weirdest interaction I’ve had. He was a younger kid, but yeah. He wanted me to sign his shoe, so probably that.

K: Now we are going really off the ice here, before a game a lot of guys have pregame meals and you guys are trying to stay as healthy as possible, but in the off-season, what’s your go-to cheat meal? What’s that meal that, when you get a chance, you want to have it?

M: There’s a really good ice cream place that me and my family go to. We try to go there like every two weeks. It’s called Snowflake, back in New York, it’s a really good ice cream spot. That’s definitely my cheat meal, we go there once a week or every two weeks. That’s my go-to cheat meal back home.

K: To go back, you mentioned that breakfast place every Sunday or Monday mornings, what’s your go-to pick at that place?

M: I go steak and eggs, then chocolate chip pancakes on the side, usually with a coffee or an orange juice.

K: When you’re at home, away from the rink, whether you are with your teammates or by yourself, what’s your go-to TV show or movie that you like to throw on and watch every now and again?

M: Outer Banks. That Netflix show that, yeah, you know it. That’s probably my favorite TV show, for sure.

K: Sticking with that same sort of topic, what’s your go-to music choice? What’s your warmup playlist before games, or any guilty pleasure songs that you maybe don’t want your teammates knowing you’re listening to it?

M: Mainly rap or country. I’ll walk into the rink with rap on, then I ease into country. I try to be relaxed before a game and country is a lot more relaxing than rap. Those are definitely my two go-to’s. Then guilty pleasure song, I like T-Swift, Taylor Swift. She’s got a few songs that are probably my guilty pleasure songs. Yeah, I’ll go with Taylor Swift.

K: To end off here, just to wrap up, I’ve got a couple “Would you rather” questions. The first one: Would you rather score a game-winning goal in overtime or setting up the game-winning goal with the perfect assist?

M: I’d probably say set-up the goal. I like assists more than goals personally, so I’d say that.

K: Second one: Would you rather tape every single one of your teammates sticks before every game for a full season or sharpen everyone’s skates by hand with a dull stone?

M: Oh, definitely tape sticks. I like taping sticks, so I’ll definitely tape everyone’s sticks.

K: Alright, last one here: Would you rather have to play an entire game wearing goalie pads or play an entire game wearing skates two sizes too small?

M: Probably two sizes too small. I’ll just have to figure it out somehow, right?