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AHL Stockton Heat

Making Some Noise

February 8, 2022 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Stockton Heat News Release


Things are getting a bit cluttered on Matthew Phillips, pucks representing milestones and achievements taking up more real estate in his locker stall than he'd like.

There were the 50th AHL goal and 100th AHL point biscuits. Another was his 51st marker to make him the Heat all-time leading goal scorer. Lastly, most recently, his first AHL hat trick, which paced the Heat to a win on Thursday, the first of two victories this past week against the Abbotsford Canucks.

"Had to take them out of my stall," said Phillips, explaining his haul with his signature grin, as if he needed to defend the cleaning. "They just get in the way."

A house-keeping headache? Apparently. A good problem to have? No question.

You'd be hard-pressed to find a more affable personality within any group, pro athlete or not. Soft-spoken, seemingly perpetually in a good mood, it's hard to tell the winger is on a path of destruction right now on the ice that has him in rare air.

Since the flip of the calendar to 2022, Phillips has the AHL's second-highest goal-total and fifth-highest scoring output, with 10 goals and 16 points in 13 games. He's five-points clear of Stockton's second-leading scorer since the ball dropped, with line mate Glenn Gawdin's 11-point tab earning silver.

"I'm not sure statistically-wise why it's any different," said Phillips on his recent torrid stretch. "I've said this before in interviews and stuff like that, I just play the same way. Sometimes the puck bounces for you, sometimes it doesn't. It sounds pretty cliche, but as far as for me and my line, with (Gawdin) and (Pelletier), we've feel like we've been pretty consistent all year. Some games the puck goes in. Some games it doesn't. Some games you have 10 chances and nothing to show for it, some games you have one and it goes in.

"I just try to play the game the right way and let the results follow."

It's easy to explain away the ebbs and flows as puck luck, but you don't reach the level of play Phillips has provided of late - arguably the best run of his pro career - without putting in the work. He's fine-tuned his game, fixed areas that had previously been weaknesses, a process that takes patience and diligence for a fourth-year pro, far from long in the tooth at 23 years of age.

His many gifts have always been apparent. Skating ability, check. Hockey IQ, check. Vision and feel for developing plays, check and check. His shot, per then-head coach Cail MacLean, as diagnosed prior to the 2019-20 season that yielded an All-Star honor for the Calgary native, was the area of focus. Perhaps there's no better illustration of how far Phillips has come than in Friday's tilt, the winger firing a puck from between the faceoff circle and goal line short-side, top-shelf for his fourth goal of the two-game set.

"I think I've come a long way since I first turned pro," agreed Phillips on his sniping ability. "I actually credit Cail a lot since he worked a lot on that with me. I also got some new stick specs, more tailored to my shooting style, down in flex and fatter blade to make life easier. It's something I've always known to work on. I'll never have the hardest shot on the team or anything, but to be able to create more for myself and for my line mates, that's big."

The less tangible growth seen in Phillips, who's listed at 5-foot-8, 165 pounds, is his willingness to get to and effectiveness when in the hard areas. Ask him and he'll offer it up himself, he's always been the smallest player at every level, so he's used to battling bigger bodies no matter if it's the AHL, the WHL or if he should get a stay this season in Calgary. He's gone from 'slippery,' as MacLean used to reference when speaking on Phillips' ability to fight through bodies, to a hard-nosed hockey player.

Some of it is credit to the natural progression of rounding out one's game on the farm. The rest, well that's up to the character.

"Courage," explained Heat head coach Mitch Love, in his first season of overseeing Phillips but familiar with him from the duo's WHL days. "I don't know if there's another word for it other than that. He's just willing to go to areas where you have to go to score and create offense. Whether that's in a corner to get a puck back, whether that's the net front to tip a puck in or get a secondary opportunity, that's the biggest thing.

"That takes courage, especially when you're of Matt's stature. That's a mindset. That's not anything physical. That's a credit to him and his desire to get better."

He's overcome odds every step of the way from draft day, going 166th overall to making his NHL debut last year with the Flames. For as agreeable in nature as Phillips is, it seems to carry some irony that it's up to him now to make decisions difficult up top as he continues to try to will himself to another taste of life with the big club.

For as well as he's played over the last stretch, he understands it's all part of the process.

"Everyone here is working to get to the NHL," said Phillips. "No matter your individual situation you just need to continue to strive to improve, get better at all facets of your game. No matter how you think you may be playing, when you're here it's a chance to improve.

"It all comes with team success. We're all trying to get there, and winning games makes everyone look better. It lets us showcase what we can do to help at the next level. I'm not doing anything crazy, just keep getting better every day and go from there."

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