Matt Filipe grew up minutes away from TD Garden.
In watching players such as Sergei Samsonov fly up and down the Garden ice, Filipe instantly knew that someday he wanted to do the same, and do so in a Bruins sweater.
During his sophomore season at Malden Catholic High School in Malden, Massachusetts, Filipe committed to Northeastern University. Playing for the Huskies was also a dream for Filipe, following the footsteps of his father, Paul, who played for the Huskies from 1978 through 1982.
The elder Filipe was elected to the Northeastern University Hall of Fame in 2004.
“I grew up coming to these games, I’ve been a big Huskies fan my whole life. I use to go into the locker room when I was a kid and try and steal sticks, pucks or whatever I could get my hands on,… Filipe told Hockey Buzz.
“This was always my goal, to play here. Have my Dad who had been through it before. I was real close with [former head] coach [Jim] Madigan and just the way everything played out was perfect for me.…
In 136 games across four seasons with Northeastern, the younger Filipe scored 31 goals and added 44 assists, helping the Huskies win three straight Beanpot titles.
“I was able to commit here my sophomore year in high school, went out to the USHL in my senior year to prepare for it. Really, everything my whole life growing up was to prepare to play for Northeastern,… Filipe said. “It was a great four years for me at Northeastern, it was a dream come true.…
Filipe was drafted 67th overall by the Carolina Hurricanes in the third round of the 2016 entry draft. From there, Filipe was in constant contact with the Hurricanes, and a special former Bruin that works in the forward development group of the Hurricanes Hockey Operations staff.
“I was drafted by Carolina and they were great with me in development camps when I would go down there every summer. Sergei Samsonov was a guy I talked to pretty much every week when I was here at Northeastern which was cool because I was a Bruins fan growing up and obviously he was a great Bruins player,… said Filipe.
“To be able to talk to him often here when I was at Northeastern and kind of chat with him about hockey stuff was really awesome. I have nothing but great things to say about the people in Carolina.…
Filipe and the Hurricanes were never able to come to terms on an entry level deal before the deadline to do so, making him a free agent in August of 2020. Once the Bruins showed interest in signing Filipe, the choice was obvious.
“Boston was one of the first teams to call me and express a lot of interest. For me, obviously growing up a kid in Massachusetts and played at Malden Catholic, played at Northeastern, it was always a dream to play for the Bruins and I thought there was a good opportunity there,… said Filipe.
“I believed in their development of players and you see it with college guys, they’ve had a lot of success with college guys and college free agents in general and I felt like that would be a great opportunity for me.…
Filipe got his first taste of professional hockey in the COVID shortened 2020-21 season, appearing in three for games for the Jacksonville Icemen of the ECHL and 17 games for the Providence Bruins of the AHL.
“It was good, I learned a lot. It was a little bit of a weird year, we didn’t get going until January and training camp,… Filipe said of his first taste of professional hockey. “Camp was awesome and then onto Providence, it was a good year, I learned a lot.…
With the state of Rhode Island using the Dunkin’ Donuts Center—the Providence Bruins home arena—for various COVID-19 related initiatives, the building was unavailable to them, sending them to the New England Sports Center in Marlborough, Mass to play their home games.
With many teams across the AHL footprint closing their doors for the season during the pandemic, the AHL had to get creative in how they could operate their season, giving teams across the league the opportunity to play as many games as possible.
That meant 12 games against the Bridgeport Sound Tigers and 12 games against the Hartford Wolfpack inside empty arenas.
“Obviously it was a different year, we had to drive to Marlborough and play in front of no fans. I played in Marlborough growing up with more people in the stands, so it was just weird for my first season of pro hockey to be so limited with people there, but it was good, good to get a taste of it,… said Filipe.
“We only played two teams there, had a good rivalry with Bridgeport and Hartford there and they were some fun games.…
Filipe’s first season in Providence was cut short due to a concussion, a season that saw Filipe finish with two goals and three assists in 17 games with Providence. Filipe is finally back to 100% after recently being cleared to begin his full offseason training.
“For me, it’s just day-by-day. It was a long recovery for me, now it’s getting back to where I was and then some. I lost a little bit from being out for so long as anyone would,… he said. “It’s a similar approach as to when you’re healthy: just got to take it one step at a time and worry about today and focus on what you can do right now. That’s been my mindset throughout my career and my focus is to get better every day.…
By getting better every day, Filipe hopes to soon be doing what Samsonov did before him, or what fellow Massachusetts natives such as Charlie Coyle, Matt Grzelcyk and Chris Wagner do today: play for the Boston Bruins.
“Charlie Coyle is a guy who I know well, we have the same agent so he’s a resource that I’ve been able to have, he’s a great guy,… said Filipe. “All those guys, you see how much it means to be able to play for Boston. I think it would mean just as much to me.…
By playing for Northeastern, Filipe has already achieved one lifelong dream. He hopes soon enough, he’ll achieve another.
“It would be a dream come true to play for Boston and just seeing those guys from Mass, people see how much it means to those players,… he said.
“It’s pretty cool to watch and hopefully that will be me.…