Matsmith didn't really want to play hockey growing up, he was a late comer to the sport. He was a really good roller skater, he played roller hockey before he even considered playing Ice Hockey. That was until he saw the Chicago Syndicate play in the S57 season of the Simulation Hockey League. As a young kid who grew up underprivileged in Chicago, he never thought he could really afford and have the ability to learn the ice hockey game. This all changed in that season, because Chicago did an outreach to youth roller kids and he got the good luck of connecting with them and then learned ice hockey. It was quickly there he found he out he was surprisingly good at it. Side note, it's also how he met his adoptive parents, god father, and uncle, so feel good story there. As for hockey tho, he really was forunate and was in the right place to learn from some of the best around.