Game On Magazine - April 2017 Game on Preview Edition | Page 99

A s T o l d t o S c o tt Tay l o r
Photos by Laurie Anderson and Mora HC
Suitcase
and hockey
sticks in
hand
Matt Bailey is a 6-foot-1,
195-pound overachiever
from Oakbank who was never
thought of as “a can’t miss,”
player. He played in the MJHL
in Neepawa, spent four years
at Alaska-Anchorage where
he got a marketing degree
and has spent much of four
seasons in the American
Hockey League with three
different teams. Late last
season, while he was on the
roster of the AHL’s Stockton
Heat, Bailey was given a shot
at pro hockey in Sweden. His
decision to leave the AHL
turned out to be one of the
best decisions he’s ever made.
Early on in the summer of
2017, Game On Magazine
had an opportunity to sit
down with Oakbank’s Matt
Bailey, a pro hockey player
who has experienced just
about every level of the game
below the National Hockey
League. This season he will
return to Mora, Sweden, and
play in the highly-regarded
Swedish Elite League. We sat
down with the 26-year-old
former (and perhaps future)
AHL player outside Focus
Fitness at Bell MTS Iceplex,
a place where he spent much
of his summer vacation. He
was upbeat, excited about his
future and grateful for his
past. He’s played the game in
three countries, but his is a
quintessential Canadian story.
i n t e rv i e w
m att
bailey
HEIGHT / 6’ 1
WEIGHT / 195
AGE / 26
BORN / April 5 1991
OAKBANK MB
Forwar d
SHOOTS left
SEPTEMBER 2017 | GAME ON | 9 9