2015 | Rhode Island | BOYS

Portsmouth High School | Portsmouth Patriots | BOYS

Matt Alexander has been named the 2015 recipient of the Hobey Baker High School Character Award for Portsmouth’s hockey team.

The award is named after the individual who many consider to be the first US hockey star, and is sponsored by the Hobey Baker Foundation.  Each year since 1981 the Foundation has presented the coveted Hobey Baker Memorial Award to the top collegiate hockey player in the nation.  In 2003 it established the High School Character Award to be presented to the member of each team in participating states that best exemplifies the Hobey Baker ideal that “character builds excellence.”  Chosen by the individual teams’ coaches the award is not intended to recognize the best player on each team.  Instead, the honor lauds the player that best embodies integrity and positive attitude, coachability, outstanding sportsmanship, and community spirit.  The award, which is currently presented in twenty states, was adopted by Rhode Island in 2006.

Wearing number six on the ice, Matt Alexander is a senior forward, who centers the Patriots second offensive line.  He is a four year veteran of the Portsmouth High School varsity hockey team.  An exceptional student athlete, he is precisely the type of player the Hobey Baker Award seeks to recognize.  An exceedingly coachable player, he can be counted on to put one hundred percent effort into every practice and every game.  Matt is notably reliable and leads by example both on and off the ice.  That leadership was recognized this season by his selection to serve as an Alternate Captain for the team.  His support of the other players has contributed to a positive chemistry among his teammates that has fostered a cohesion and positive outlook that had been missing in recent years.  As a result, the squad has a winning attitude, a record to match it, and is on a pace to make the post-season playoffs for the first time in three years.

In addition to his skills at the rink, Matt stands out in the classroom as well.  Academically, he is a perennial honor roll student, and a member of the National Honor Society.

While Matt has had many successes in the four years he has played for the Patriots, perhaps one of the most memorable for both him and fans of Patriots hockey occurred in the post-season of his freshman year.  Entering the second game of the state championship semi-finals, Portsmouth was down a game and facing elimination in the best of three series with the talented and powerful Prout Crusaders.  In a tightly played game, the Patriots battled to a 2-2 tie at the end of regulation time.  Two subsequent sudden-death overtime periods failed to produce a winner and so the contest moved on to a shootout.   Nearly all games are resolved within the first five shooters.  This one was not.  In fact, it was still tied after the seventh round of the shootout.  That’s when Head Coach Mike Monahan turned to Matt, and asked if he wanted to give the shootout a try.  Matt had seen only limited play time that season, and had not skated even a single shift in the game that was still underway, and undecided.  His enthusiastic response earned him the chance to have a go at the Crusaders’ all-star goalie who had stymied the best skaters the Patriots sent at him.  It was an opportunity to win the game for his team.  And win it he did.  His shot ripped past the Crusaders goal keeper, and sent the Patriots and their fans into a wild celebration.

Matt is undoubtedly looking forward to his team returning to the playoffs for the first time since that unforgettable moment.

Matt will be honored along with other players receiving the Hobey Baker Award form their teams in two special events.  The first is an ice-level recognition ceremony during the intermission at the Providence Bruins game on January 18.  That game, which begins at 3:05 at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center, will pit the Bruins against the Wilkes-Barr Scranton Penguins.  In the second event Matt and the other awardees will be recognized for their accomplishment by Rhode Island’s new governor, Gina Raimondo, in a ceremony at the State House in Providence.  The date and time for that traditional event will be announced in the near future.