Hendricks has troops’ backs

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This article was published 06/11/2017 (2862 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Supplying anything less than an all-out effort simply isn’t part of Matt Hendricks’ makeup — and that effort goes well beyond the hockey rink.

The Winnipeg Jets centre has been with the NHL team for just over two months, yet his contributions are already having a ripple effect within the organization and the community he now calls home.

For much of his career, Hendricks, 36, has been running a program with his wife, Kim, called “Hendricks’ Heroes.” On game days, two members of the military and their guests are treated to a Jets game, presented with signed jerseys and get their pictures taken with the veteran forward.

Last Thursday, a pair of Winnipeg military members, Corporal Joseph Hardy of Canadian Forces Base Winnipeg and Master Warrant Officer Cory Gill of 2 Canadian Air Division, were Hendricks’ guests of honour as the Jets knocked off the Dallas Stars 5-2 at Bell MTS Place.

He started the special evenings for the men and women of the U.S. military while he played three seasons with the Washington Capitals (2011-13) and continued them during his time with the Nashville Predators (2013-14) and the three-plus seasons he played north of the border with the Edmonton Oilers.

Now, the tradition lives on in Winnipeg.

“It’s been a blessing to work with the men and women of the military, both the Canadian and in the United States. It’s been a great experience for my whole family. Meeting these people is really incredible,” Hendricks said Sunday, less than a week before Remembrance Day.

“It’s nice to thank them for their service, and to talk to the wives or husbands and their kids about the sacrifices they make as well when (their family members) are off defending our country.

“For me, the best thing is when they stand up in the arena and get applause from the crowd. It’s important they get to hear how appreciative we all are.”

Kim is back in Minneapolis with the couple’s twins, son Gunnar and daughter Lennon, who are in Kindergarten and turn six Friday. But when the family lived in Edmonton, she would take members of the military and their families out for dinner before Oilers games.

“Almost every time we did one, we would get letters sent to the rink, ‘To Matt and Kim, this was one of the best nights of my life… I’ll remember this forever… I can’t believe you guys did this,’” Kim recalled. “It was so shocking to us because it was such a small gesture on our part. You see what it means to people, to feel appreciated, and that’s why we feel it’s important to continue it.”

Hendricks said being raised by a father who spent several years in the military shaped the kind of person, husband, father and hockey player he is today. His dad, Douglas Hendricks, served with the U.S. marines in the early 1970s and was stationed in Hawaii at the tail end of the war in Vietnam. While he saw no combat, many of his friends did.

“He was very, very close to it,” Matt said. “There were a lot of hard times because a lot of his friends would get their numbers picked and wouldn’t come back. We talked a little bit about that, not a whole lot.”

A loving and fair man, Douglas Hendricks demanded discipline from his two children, Matt and Molly, instilling in them character and integrity.

“We were raised with a lot of strict guidelines, just in terms of self-discipline. Whether it was school or sports or family life, you had to be disciplined in everything you did. You told someone you were going to do something, you did it,” said Matt. “He worked extremely hard to provide for our family… just very selfless. I look up to him for those traits.”

Matt and Kim met while attending St. Cloud (Minn.) State University in 2002. Drafted by the Predators in 2000, he played four years of college hockey with the Huskies, bounced around the American Hockey League for the better part of six seasons and finally broke into the NHL in 2008-09 season, playing four games for the Colorado Avalanche.

Nine years later, he has 527 career games under his belt. His offensive numbers aren’t flashy — he’s got 49 goals and 52 assists — but he’s carved a role as a defensively sound centre, strong faceoff guy and a responsible penalty killer.

Winnipeg inked the product of Blaine, Minn., to a one-year, US$700,000 deal in late August. He has one assist in six games, after missing the squad’s first seven contests after suffering a lower-body injury while blocking a shot during the preseason.

During the 2012-13 NHL lockout, Matt went on a United Service Organization overseas trip to entertain American troops, travelling with major-league ball players Ross Detwiler and Craig Stammen (at the time representing the Washington Nationals), country singer Kellie Pickler and comedian Iliza Shlesinger. Leading the contingent was the former chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Martin Dempsey.

The week-long trip included time in Bahrain, the Kandahar airfield in Afghanistan and a medical facility in Germany. Matt flew in a Blackhawk helicopter, landing and taking off from the USS Stennis aircraft carrier.

The tour was, indeed, life-changing because of the people he met along the way, he said.

“There was a woman at the military base in Kandahar and she was telling me that her husband was stationed somewhere in Pakistan, and they were both serving overseas and had two young kids back home with grandpa and grandma,” said Matt. “For me, that was a ‘Wow’ moment… that’s what these men and women are going through.”

The Hendricks are also heavily involved with United Heroes League, an organization that provides free sports equipment, game tickets, cash grants, and skill development camps to military families across the Canada and the U.S.

They’re teaching the twins the importance of honouring those that work daily to serve and protect, here and abroad.

“We talk a lot about heroes in our household. Kids want to be firefighters and they want to be police, and those are heroes to kids. It’s easy now to bring up the military as well,” said Matt. “We try to explain how important these people are to our countries and to our freedom. They understand what the U.S. flag stands for and what the Canadian flag stands for.”

Jets head coach Paul Maurice has been thoroughly impressed with the fourth-line centre.

“Where Matt has been invaluable is as a mentor in a character role. He has such a respect for the game and the value of playing every day and the gift that playing in the NHL is,” he said.

“He values the sacrifice that other people make… the soldiers, the men and women that he’s been supporting.”

jason.bell@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @WFPJasonBell