Mathew Myers
Induction Year: 2024
Birthday: December 21, 1990
City/Town: Manchester, NH
Manchester native Matt Myers has risen to the position of video coordinator on the coaching staff of the Boston Bruins.
Like many players with a passion for hockey, Myers began skating at a young age. He played hockey until the age of 12, when the physical dangers of the sport made it unsafe for him to continue, as he was born with achondroplasia, a form of dwarfism.
Myers wanted to stay in the game and ended up taking on some off-ice roles – from running the scoreboard at his brother’s games, operating the clock during games at his hometown arena and becoming the student manager of the hockey team at Trinity High School.
He went to college at UNH where he was hired as a student manager for the men’s hockey team by then-head coach Dick Umile, and his role eventually expanded to take on video duties.
After he graduated, and worked for a while in a non-hockey profession, a breakthrough came when USA Hockey, aware of his duties at UNH, hired him as a video software consultant. He would be on the staff of three U.S. Women’s National Teams that would win gold medals, including at the 2015 IIHF Women’s World Championship in Sweden.
His next goal? Making it to the NHL.
He reached out to three teams – the Boston Bruins, Los Angeles Kings and Nashville Predators. When the Predators had an opening for a video scouting role for the 2015-16 season they reached out to Myers.
A year later, after a promotion, he was part of the staff that helped Nashville reach the Stanley Cup final, where it lost in six games to the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Myers followed Preds assistant coach Phil Housley when Housley left to become the head coach in Buffalo, becoming the organization’s lead video coach. And then a big break came in the summer of 2019, when the Bruins had an opening for a video coordinator.
Myers interviewed with GM Don Sweeney and was offered the position on then-coach Bruce Cassidy’s staff.
As the lead video coach, he is responsible for making sure every second of every game is accessible to the rest of the coaching staff, He prepares video of opponents for pre-scouts and assists the coaches with challenge calls for offside or goalie interference.
For a man born with achondroplasia, who was told it would be difficult to even find a professional job, Myers has not just found one, he’s thrived in it.