Matthew Strome's golden goal secured the second consecutive Calder Cup for the Hershey Bears.
This article originally appeared in The Hockey News Sep 9, 2024/vol. 78, issue 02
BY DILLON COLLINS
THERE ARE NAMES synonymous with hockey: Richard, Hull, Staal, Stastny and Sutter, to name a few. The Strome name – carried by NHL veteran and Anaheim Ducks center Ryan, former CHL top scorer and current Washington Capitals setup man Dylan, and OHL Hamilton captain turned Calder Cup-clinching goal-scorer Matthew – is making a push for its place among the game’s most famous monikers.
But to hear 25-year-old Matthew tell it, hockey found him long before he found it. “My mom always tells me the story of when I was, I think, four or five days old, Ryan had a hockey game and I was at the rink,” Matthew said. “So, right from birth, I was pretty much at the hockey rink. If I wasn’t at the rink, I’d be playing mini-sticks or road hockey. So, that’s been the biggest part of my life ever since I was a young kid.”
Ryan, 31, lit up the OHL en route to being drafted fifth overall by the New York Islanders in 2011. Seeing the brother with whom he had played mini-sticks and shinny put up 106 points with the Niagara IceDogs and go on to become a physical two-way forward in the NHL was an incentive for Matthew, who is six years Ryan’s junior, to take a genuine interest in a career in the pros.
“When Ryan first made it to the OHL, I was like 10 years old,” Matthew said. “And to see him leave home at 16 and go play junior hockey, I knew from that moment that I wanted to follow in his footsteps, and I know Dylan felt the same way.”
Dylan, 27, won an OHL title with Erie in 2017, two years after being drafted third overall by the Arizona Coyotes. These days, he holds a key role with the Capitals, playing the part of setup man for Alex Ovechkin as the Russian sniper pursues Wayne Gretzky’s all-time goal-scoring crown.
Matthew says that having Ryan and Dylan as models of consistency and sounding boards for all hockey-related matters has been an invaluable resource. “It’s just so awesome to have those resources that if I’m going through a slump or maybe not playing that much, I know I always have those guys to turn to who have been through it all,” Matthew said. “They’ve been my biggest fans, my biggest supporters, and I know whenever I need advice on something those are the two people I turn to most.”
Matthew earned his stripes at a young age, captaining the U-16 Toronto Marlboros to an OHL Cup AAA title en route to becoming the first-ever draft selection for the OHL’s Hamilton Bulldogs in 2015. He’d anchor the Dogs for four seasons, leading the club to a league championship in 2017-18.
Strome would have a trial-by-fire introduction to the pro game after the Philadelphia Flyers chose him in the fourth round of the 2017 draft. But since departing the Flyers system, he’s become an all-around utility player – gritty, and with a knack for killing penalties – under Hershey coach Todd Nelson. Last season, Strome set an AHL career high in points and tied a bow on things by scoring the Calder Cup-clinching goal 1:06 into OT as Hershey roared past the Coachella Valley Firebirds in Game 6 on home ice.
“I was a 20-year-old playing against 35-year-olds,” said Matthew of his introduction to the pro game. “You kind of have to start from the bottom, and I don’t think my time in the Lehigh Valley/Philadelphia organization that I really bought into being a third- or fourth-line player, being on the penalty kill and really establishing a role. When I got to Hershey, the team was so deep my first year there, so I knew when I played that I had to contribute something if I wanted to get in the lineup. The coaching staff, especially Pat Wellar, the penalty-kill coach, really had trust in me, and he was very open and vocal about what my role was going to be.
“A lot of guys don’t want to block shots, but every team needs that, especially if you want to have a championship-winning team. So I really bought into that role, and I think it has done so much for me in my pro career.”
Reflecting on the “insane” Calder Cup final, and fresh off inking a two-year extension with the Bears, Matthew has found a home with one of the sport’s winningest franchises. “In Hershey, they want to win,” he said. “The fans want to win, the equipment guys, the trainers, the coaches, the management, everybody just wants to win. They want what’s best for us. And if we keep winning championships, it’s just gonna keep happening. So it’s been awesome, my time there, and I’m super excited for the next two years.” ■