For the past ten years, 15-year-old Kazden Mathies has been pursuing his passion for hockey, which most recently took him to the Canada Winter Games where athletes from across the country came together in Prince Edward Island from February 18th to March 5th to go head-to-head in a variety of sports.
Mathies was a member of Team Saskatchewan in Men’s Hockey, who came home as the winners of the silver medal.
“I was honoured to find out that I had made the Saskatchewan Hockey Team. I was excited to represent Saskatchewan, alongside the top U16 players in our province. It had been a goal of mine to make the team, so it was exciting to finally find out that I was going to the Winter Games,” Mathies said.
Since first hitting the ice as a young child, Mathies has always loved the game, stating that he loves the fast pace of hockey, making new friendships and competing at a high level, which made playing for Team Saskatchewan in the final match at the Canada Winter Games that much more special.
During his time at the Winter Games, Mathies created memories that will last a lifetime. “Heading into the tournament, Saskatchewan had not been in a gold medal final since 1995, so people probably weren’t expecting us to be one of the top teams. Our team came together and everyone contributed, and we ended up playing against Team Ontario in the final,” Mathies said.
Prior to the final game, Team Saskatchewan had won against New Brunswick and Quebec to win their pool. From there, they beat out Nova Scotia and Quebec in the semi-finals, which led them to the gold-medal match, a game that Mathies said he will never forget.
“The game went to double overtime of 3-on-3. Unfortunately, we ended up losing the game and taking home the silver medal, but the experience of that final will always stick with me. Playing on this team allowed me to make new friendships, play together with many of my U18 AAA rivals and to compete against the best hockey players in the country.”
Although Mathies has played in numerous other national competitions throughout the years in various locations such as Montreal, Minneapolis, Winnipeg and Calgary, first competing in a major competition at the age of ten, the Canada Winter Games was the biggest one thus far, and as Mathies stated, “The best experience I could ask for.”
This week, Mathies received more good news as he was selected as a Second Team All Star for the SaskMale U18AAA Hockey League 2022-2023 Season.
