"Yeah, it's definitely crazy. I mean, I just from, you know, before the draft to now, it's definitely, you get a little bit noticed a lot more. So, um, yeah, it's funny, the kids get so excited, even though you're just like, you know, I'm, I'm almost the same age as you guys kind of thing, you know."
"But yeah, it's pretty funny when uh you can just be a kid, coach some kids' games and just mess around and be on the bench and, you know,"
"I wasn't on the bench for like the full time, but I was like for warm-ups and uh and stuff like that. I got to go on with them and they just, they loved it. So, yeah, it was pretty cool."
Matthew Schaefer returned to his hometown during the Olympic break and experienced increased recognition from local residents. He spent time coaching youth hockey, joining practices, participating in warm-ups, and offering pointers to young players. The children reacted enthusiastically despite Schaefer being nearly their age, treating his presence as special. Schaefer used his platform to connect with people through hockey and to serve as a role model. The break provided a full-circle reminder of how recently he had been in their skates and reinforced his commitment to community engagement during a whirlwind rookie season.
Read at Eyes On Isles
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