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Bruins video coordinator Mat Myers has dwarfism and aspires to become a NHL assistant coach, which would be a first in the league.Matthew J. Lee\/Globe Staff<\/p>\n\u201cThe dream absolutely would be to be on the ice as an assistant coach,\u201d he said with no lack of conviction, \u201cand one day, I am also not going to cross off [the chance of] being a head coach in the NHL.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Being short is something beyond Myers\u2019s power to change. To aim high is measured only by his imagination. <\/p>\n
Bruins video coordinator Mat Myers has dwarfism and aspires to become a NHL assistant coach, which would be a first in the league.Matthew J. Lee\/Globe Staff<\/p>\n
\u201cMy days in college, the Bruins of that era, that was my biggest sports fandom moment,\u201d recalled Myers, whose first days learning video were as a University of New Hampshire communications major, long before he joined the Bruins staff in the summer of 2019. \u201cZdeno Chara was the captain. I grew up watching him and [Patrice] Bergeron, [Tuukka] Rask, [Brad] Marchand . . . they were all still here, with Chara at the helm.\u201d<\/p>\n
Awestruck? Of course, even though by that time Myers already had logged some six years of full-time video duty, first with the NHL\u2019s Nashville Predators and then the Buffalo Sabres. Being home put the job in a different perspective, and meant more to Myers.<\/p>\n
It proved to be Chara, a man accustomed to dealing with stereotypes about height, good and bad, who eased his first-day-on-the-job anxieties.<\/p>\n
\u201cWon\u2019t forget it,\u201d said Myers, recalling that the 6-foot-9-inch Chara walked over to him at the club\u2019s Brighton workout facility. \u201cHe looks at me and says, \u2018You and I are going to wrestle one day . . . let\u2019s do it.\u2019 It was perfect. He defied the odds, too, from the opposite end of the spectrum, being so tall.\u201d<\/p>\n
Now a long-established and respected presence in the dressing room, the affable Myers leads the Bruins\u2019 video efforts with top aide Sean Andrake, another UNH grad. It\u2019s a technically complex, demanding role: mainly, provide an unending stream of video material that helps coaches and players gain an edge on the ice. <\/p>\n
\u201cHe is such a good man,\u201d said coach Marco Sturm, asked to assess Myers\u2019s work. \u201cHe is one of those guys you can call at three in the morning and he\u2019ll be there for you. You need those guys in the room, because guys feel he has their back.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Bruins video coordinator Mat Myers leaves the locker room before they played the Canucks on December 20.Matthew J. Lee\/Globe Staff<\/p>\n
Sturm believes the club\u2019s captain video has the skill set to move to on-ice instruction.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe knows his stuff,\u201d said Sturm, in his first year as an NHL bench boss. \u201cThat\u2019s his plus. He\u2019s been around a long time and knows the game. So he can actually teach and tell stories, especially to young kids.\u201d<\/p>\n
Myers saw hockey literally grow past him in middle school. The kids he played with since preschool days became taller, stronger, each of them moving on to what he refers to as the \u201caverage-sized\u201d world. One that no longer held a fit for him in the rink.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was maybe a little bit naive, too,\u201d noted Myers, chuckling over the memory, and laughing at himself \u2014 humor one of his core strengths. \u201cI thought I was so quick and so slippery out there that I figured I wouldn\u2019t get clobbered, but . . .\u201d<\/p>\n
Faceoffs, recalled Myers, underscored the reality.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll the centers became way stronger than me,\u201d he recalled. \u201cWe\u2019d have the faceoff and my stick would go flying into the corner. Made me think then, \u2018OK, yeah . . . I should probably move over to wing or something.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n
A lifetime of adapting to things in the average-size world \u2014 including, in recent years, raising two children who also have dwarfism \u2014 also has shaped Myers\u2019s belief never to limit his career dreams. There is, he firmly believes, always a way around obstacles. <\/p>\n
To that point, Myers already has worked through what he feels would be two significant, practical impediments if someone of his height worked on the ice as an NHL coach.<\/p>\n
His equipment would require extra padding, particularly protection from flying pucks that make someone his height extra vulnerable to getting hit on the head.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt would just have to be a little different,\u201d mused Myers, matter of factly, \u201clike everything I do.\u201d<\/p>\n
He also figures his view from the bench area, where he would be challenged to see game action, would improve if he stood atop the bench. He often stood on the bench, he said, during the two seasons he helped coach his high school team, Trinity, in Manchester, N.H.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs long as the players knew, \u2018This is my spot. I am standing here,\u2019 \u201d said Myers, imagining how NHLers would respond to his feet shuffling around their backsides. \u201cI guess we\u2019d have to figure that out.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Mat Myers has been the Bruins video coordinator for seven seasons and hopes to become the first person with dwarfism to become a NHL assistant coach.Matthew J. Lee\/Globe Staff<\/p>\n
In recent interviews with Charlie McAvoy, Jeremy Swayman, and Sean Kuraly, it was clear that Myers has shared little, if anything, about his coaching dream. All three praised his video work, commitment, and intelligence and drive to help the team and the players with their individual skills.<\/p>\n
McAvoy, as if breaking the puck from deep in his own end, picked up the pace when listing Myers\u2019s duties and job efficiency.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery night, sitting there and breaking down the plays,\u201d he said, as if at the video controls. \u201cYou know, zone entries, breakout . . . clip it!, clip it!, clip it! . . . it\u2019s his job to watch every single play. We at least get to go to the bench for a breather, but Maty\u2019s on it every second.\u201d<\/p>\n
A sincere Kuraly, hearing for the first time about Myers\u2019s dream to be on the ice, kept repeating, \u201cWow. Wow. Wow.,\u201d as if in awe.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t know that. Good for him,\u201d added the veteran center. \u201cWhy not? Things are always changing and someone\u2019s gonna do it eventually. I am glad he has those ambitions and I can\u2019t see any reason it wouldn\u2019t work out.\u201d<\/p>\n
Calling him both \u201cone of a kind\u201d and \u201cone of the boys,\u201d Swayman said he had no doubt Myers could transition to the on-ice role. <\/p>\n
\u201cI think hockey is the perfect culture to embrace different kinds of structures and systems,\u201d said Swayman. \u201cSo he can go in any room and make himself fit in.\u201d<\/p>\n
Over the years, said Myers, he has done some public speaking, chiefly aimed at helping others follow their dreams and ambitions no matter what might hold them back. He likes to loosen up the crowd \u201cto break he ice\u201d before getting into his story.<\/p>\n
\u201cOK, clap once if you can hear me,\u201d he typically says, \u201cso I can test if I am talking loud enough.\u201d<\/p>\n
Then, a pause.<\/p>\n
\u201cOK, now, clap twice if you can see me.\u201d<\/p>\n
The smattering of giggles, some uneasy, get the show underway. The little person \u2014 what Myers says is the preferred term for those with dwarfism \u2014 has the audience engaged.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am very self-aware of my situation, and don\u2019t many times get to use it to my advantage,\u201d he said. \u201cIf I can show I am comfortable and let people know you don\u2019t have to be hush-hush around me about any of my handicap stuff, then it is game on.\u201d<\/p>\n
Myers, the little person with the big dream, has identified his goal. The game slipped through his hands once, and that\u2019s not a replay he intends to give space on his screen.<\/p>\n