Matt Atkinson’s family moved to Fairbanks when Matt was nine. He remembers receiving a flier for FAHA youth hockey at Woodriver Elementary shortly after the family moved to Fairbanks. Mattwanted to try the sport and his parents approved. He played in net for a FAHA House Squirt team that first season. Matt remembers practicing on outdoor rinks with teammates Curt Franklin and Heidi Chalupnik (now Kubichek).
Matt’s mother worked for Wien Airline. Her travel benefits allowed Matt to attend the Sno-King Hockey Camp in Seattle the next summer. He remembers that camp as the first time he ever received any training in the fine art of playing goal-tender. He also got his first pair of goalie skates.
The following season, Atkinson and his Pee Wee teammates traveled to Sweden for a tournament. They were the first Fairbanks youth hockey team to travel outside of North America.
Atkinson’s goalie skills had developed rapidly, which he attributes to, “ … internal motivation. I never missed a chance to practice. Marc Cridge and Les Lundberg and I would meet at the outdoor rinks at the Dipper every day after school in our early teens. Practice was fun!!”
During his second Bantam season, Atkinson practiced with the Gold Kings and suited up for most of the games. He even got into one game against the Bonneville (Alberta) Pontiacs. He was 14 years old.
The following season, Matt played for West Valley High School under coach Rick Tarkiainen. He made the all-tournament team at the State championships and was named Player of the Year in the Interior.
Atkinson spent two seasons in the USHL, with the Dubuque Fighting Saints and the Rochester Mustangs. His performance caught the eye of Brad Buetow, who had been hired to start a new Division I program at United States International University in San Diego. Unfortunately, the team folded after one season due to financial issues, but Matt accepted an offer to stay at the school and complete his degree. To satisfy his hockey itch, Matt played for the San Diego Surf, which was a Senior Men’s team that played against the Gold Kings. “It was kinda weird playing against my home town,” he recalls.
After completing college, Atkinson returned to Fairbanks. He played for the Gold Kings near the end of their amateur reign, and also a couple years in the local recreational league. Soon thereafter, career and family took precedence and Matt stepped away from the game for more than a decade.
When Atkinson came back to hockey, he was in a new role. He wore a whistle and answered to the title of “Coach.” Like many fathers, Matt started coaching when his son Simon started playing and his time commitment increased when his daughter Miranda picked up the sport a couple years later. The family covered Ice Puppies, Arctic Lions and Ice Breakers. Matt has spent the last eight years with FAHA. Like his children, Matt marched up through the various age groups of youth hockey. During the 2008-09 season, Matt started providing monthly clinics for any and all goalies in the FAHA program. Those clinics continue to this day. Matt is pleased to mention that goalies from the Ice Dogs and Nanooks now join him in training the next generation of goal-tenders.
There were a few highlights and one low-light with the teams that Matt helped to coach over the years. At the end of the 2009-10 season, the U-14 Ice Breaker team finished second in the State Tournament. After the 2013-14 regular season, the FAHA Bantams won the State Championship. Matt was named as the FAHA Coach of the Year. The single low-light occurred when Matt and his wife Carey were driving back from a tourney in Anchorage during the 2011-12 season. The return trip was fraught with icy roads and broken down vehicles. However, the worst was yet to come. The Atkinsons stopped for fuel in Cantwell just as the gas station blew up. A propane tank had been leaking and reached critical mass just as the Atkinsons pulled onto the property. Matt recalls driving the vehicle away from the building as flames engulfed the facility. He still shakes his head at the memory of that incident.
Atkinson names two local coaches as being highly influential in his development as a player, “First is Roger McKinnon. He was consistently supportive during the early stages of me learning the position. Second would be Tark [Rich Tarkiainen] when I was at West Valley. He was a steady presence and excellent teacher.”
Matt feels that he was a good coach from the beginning, but got better every year. “The USA Hockey workshops were very helpful to me. Some people consider them an unwelcome obligation. I always looked forward to those sessions because I learned so much,” he explains.
“One of the awkward aspects was that most of my coaching was at a level lower than I ever played at. Thus, it was sometimes difficult for me to relate to the players. I had to adjust to their level of ability and expectations.”
Fellow coaches admire Atkinson and the work he has done. Former Hutchison High School coach Keith Bartusch shares his thoughts, “Matt is probably the most sincere guy I know; always wears a smile. He would do anything for anyone without wanting any acknowledgement coming back his way. When it comes to working with our youth teams, he literally has a blast out there!”
Bruce Laiti sums it up this way, “Matt’s the kind of coach you want your kid to have.” There’s no greater praise for a coach than the endorsement of his peers.