Latest news with #MatthewMyers
BBC News
a day ago
- Sport
- BBC News
'Really special' - Devils celebrate GOAT Martin
"It's difficult to describe the impact Joey Martin has had on this organisation on and off the ice."For managing director Todd Kelman, Cardiff Devils' number 88 is, "our best player over the last decade". For most fans, forward Martin is simply the GOAT - the greatest of all Saturday (17:00 BST) at the Vindico Arena, the 36-year-old from Ontario joins a select group of players the club has hounored in recent seasons; Great Britain internationals Mark Richardson, Matthew Myers, Josh Batch and Ben is the first non-British player to be awarded a testimonial game in the past eleven years of the current ownership."I'm extremely grateful, it's really special, it's made me reflect on all the years I've been here."I always feel very fortunate that I landed at this club and have so many great memories that I can look back on," said Martin. Martin first joined the Devils in 2014 and after a brief spell away during Covid returned in his first five-season spell with Cardiff, he won the league's Forward of the Year three times, Player of the Year twice and made the league's All-Star team every the 2024-25 season - his ninth at the Welsh club - he became the highest scoring import player in Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL) history and was Devils' Players' Player of the Year."As the league has improved, he has still always been one of the top players," added Kelman on announcing Martin would be back for a 10th campaign in a Devils jersey. "We are very lucky to have had him all these years." 'My love for the game started in the driveway' Martin was born and bred in the small city of Thorold, ten miles west of Niagara Falls on the United States border."Like most Canadian kids my love for the game started in the driveway and the street playing with my brothers and friends and then in the winters on the frozen lakes and ponds," recalls started his junior hockey with local club Thorold Blackhawks, then as a teenager he joined Aurora Tigers in the Ontario Provincial Junior Hockey League, winning the 2007 Canadian National Junior Championship, the Royal Bank hockey followed whilst studying physical education at the University of Nebraska in Omaha, sometimes in front of 17,000 after captaining Omaha Mavericks in his final student season, in 2011 Martin went professional with Ohio-based Toledo Walleye."Going from school to the East Coast Hockey League (ECHL) was a bit of an adjustment. Sometimes you play four games in five nights, a lot of road trips on the bus, it's a bit of a grind," added ECHL sits third in the North America hierarchy, below the American Hockey League (AHL) and the dream destination for all hockey players, the globally-dominant NHL."I had a few different call ups [to the AHL] with Houston Aeros, Texas Stars and Bridgeport Sound Tigers."After three years of that, getting called up and sent down, I was over that whole lifestyle and that's why I ended up pursuing options over here [the UK]." 'I thought, oh no!' In late July 2014 Martin received a call from an old Toledo teammate, Doug Clarkson, who had signed for a British club under new ownership – the Cardiff Devils. They were looking for a centre-mid forward and wanted to know if Martin was the time Martin knew very little about professional hockey in the UK."I thought that people generally came here and did their master's degree at the end of their career," he remembers."I knew it was more of a North American style, it was physical, they had enforcers, so I thought it'd be similar to the East Coast Hockey League but other than that I wasn't familiar with Cardiff, the club or the history."I kind of made a quick decision and I'm very happy with that decision now!"Martin also had no idea that his new hockey home, Devils' ice rink, was just a timber prefab, clad with bright blue tarpaulin."I remember coming on the bus and seeing this big, beautiful glass building and I said, 'Wow! That's a beautiful arena.' And they said, 'No, that's the international swimming pool, the arena's round the corner'."And then we kept driving and I saw the Big Blue Tent and I thought, 'Oh, no!'"But we had a team that just embraced it, we actually loved playing in the tent. It was a hostile environment for other teams, it was definitely an advantage for us." That first season for Martin saw the Devils unexpectedly reach the Challenge Cup Final, where they faced the sizeable challenge of taking on Sheffield Steelers in their own Sheffield was, though, a huge migration of Welsh fans from Cardiff, one that lives long in the memories of those that were there."I remember stepping on the ice for the warm-up and seeing half that arena filled with our fans. I remember thinking this is pretty special," said Martin."That's when you really saw how much it meant to the club, to the fans."Goals from player-coach Andrew Lord and centreman Chris Culligan gave Cardiff a 2-1 victory to lift their first trophy in eight years."Winning that game was awesome, just to see the look on everybody's faces and the joy especially with the season before being a tough one when they hadn't made the play-offs," Martin added."The expectations weren't for us to even be there, let alone win it. It was a really special moment."Over the next four seasons Cardiff Devils experienced a golden period winning the league twice, the 2017 Challenge Cup and two Play-Off hockey in the UK was suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, Martin went to Norway, playing in front of reduced crowds for Stavanger Oilers though eventually their 2021 season was curtailed before the Elite Hockey Ligaen then joined Graz99ers in Austria who were more than aware of Martin's qualities after he had been a crucial part of Cardiff's two group victories against them in the 2019 Champions Hockey halfway through the season Martin decided it was time to return to Cardiff."I really enjoyed my time in Graz, but I just felt that I wanted to come back to a club where the expectations were to win, and I wanted to be back in that kind of culture."And it just felt like the time to come back home." 'It's been an awesome ride - I never want it to end' Somewhat unexpectedly for Martin, the first two seasons after his return were trophyless for in January 2025 the Devils won their first European title - the IIHF Continental Cup. "That was the third year in a row of us being in that competition and I felt in the years prior we had a good chance to win it but let it slip," Martin said."I think we were just laser focused this year and it was a huge deal not just for us players, all the fans and all the people in the organisation."Following that win the Devils' chase for the league title fell away to finish in fourth place having also lost the Challenge Cup final to Belfast Giants in feels the extra games played competing in the Continental Cup, and the squad being blighted by injuries thoughout the season, caught up with them."We were playing three lines it felt like for months, and that's hard to do when you're playing three games a week, back-to-back games on the weekend and injuries keep piling up," he said."We held on for as long as we could but it just came to the point where the wheels fell off. It was tough to be a part of."We're not the only team that goes through this, but we were hit pretty hard by injuries this year."It was a campaign so nearly polished off with the shine of a second peice of in the final game of the season Cardiff lost the Play-Off final in double over-time to Nottingham - a tumultuous final that will not be forgotten soon by Panthers fans and neutrals who witnessed the for the Martin and his Devils team-mates losing that epic final, where they came back from 3-0 down to force over-time, will simply rankle forever."We were stunned for a few days to be honest, it's still hard to reflect on because we were so close to winning a trophy that I think this group deserved," reflects Martin."I think losing that Play-Off final ignited something in me that I just wanted to sign back to get another chance to win another trophy."I'm very proud of what we've done here over the years, a lot of success, a lot of good times, a lot of hard work, but I feel that we're not done yet."We need to have some more trophies; we need to create some more memories and hopefully we can do that."If you look at where the game has taken me, I feel fortunate, it's been an awesome ride. I never want it to end."
BBC News
08-05-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Local hero Myers leaves Devils for fourth time
Matthew Myers is leaving Cardiff Devils for a fourth time following the appointment of Paul Thompson as head Myers returned to the Devils as an assistant coach in July 2024 having previously had three playing spells with the Hovivuori will join the Welsh team's coaching staff for 2025-26, having helped Thompson secure last season's Danish Championship with 40, first played for his hometown club in 2001. During a 23 year career he won 17 domestic titles with Cardiff and Nottingham former Great Britain defenceman played more than 1,100 Elite League games and 114 international matches before retiring in 2024 after a final season playing in returned to the Devils to work with head coach Peter Russell who left his role in April despite having previously agreed a fresh contract for next club confirmed the latest departure alongside news of Hovivuori's appointment."Matthew Myers will not be returning to the bench for the 25-26 season," the club said on their website."We wish him the best of luck with his coaching career going forward." Born in Finland, Hovivuori has coaching experience in Norway with Comet Halden and in Sweden with Lions HC. The 48-year-old was also part of the Frolunda Coaching Academy, one of the best known ice hockey development programmes in Europe."Niklas is a calm and educated coach," said Thompson."We had a strong working relationship last season, so that continuity was important for me. I'm very pleased that he is joining me here in Cardiff after our success together in Odense."He has a high work ethic and understanding of his role. The players will enjoy his support and guidance. Niklas will be a strong asset to our hockey club."
Yahoo
13-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
SMU Cox Announces New Dean: WashU Olin Prof Todd Milbourn
Among his other accomplishments as dean, Matthew Myers oversaw the Cox School's MBA becoming a STEM program in 2021. File photo It's no exaggeration to call the nearly eight years of Matthew Myers's tenure as dean of the Cox School of Business at Southern Methodist University transformative. Myers has overseen a massive expansion of the school's footprint — not only physically, but by reputation as well. Since he joined Cox as dean in August of 2017 from Miami University's Farmer School of Business, where he was dean for three years, Myers has led a modernization of campus, a rise in the rankings, and successful building-up of the school's endowment. His all-around success in making Cox a key player in business education was such that last June he announced he would step down this summer having achieved his 10-year goals with three years to spare. On March 13, the Cox School announced Myers's replacement: Todd Milbourn, corporate finance expert and Hubert C. and Dorothy R. Moog Professor of Finance at Washington University's Olin Business School. Milbourn will become the Cox School's 10th dean and will hold the Tolleson Chair in Business Leadership effective June 1. Todd Milbourn will become SMU Cox's 10th dean in June In 2017, the year Myers took over as dean, the Cox School was 52nd in the U.S. News & World Report business school ranking. By 2024 it had risen to 34th. Meanwhile Cox is 45th in Poets&Quants' most recent MBA ranking and 21st in our 2025 ranking of top online MBA programs. The Cox School also ranks 40th in U.S. News' undergrad ranking and 26th in our most recent ranking of undergraduate business programs. Even as it rose in the rankings, the Cox School was growing in its Dallas-Fort Worth home. Breaking ground during the Covid-19 pandemic thanks to an initial $50 million gift from David and Carolyn Miller, the school opened the Miller Quad, a $140 million, 260,000-square-foot facility, in August 2023. Featuring state-of-the-art classrooms, advanced technology, and collaborative spaces designed to reflect the modern workplace, the Quad is 'more than just a building; it represents a shift in how we educate business students,' Myers told P&Q last year. It may well be his crowning achievement. 'For the first time, we have everyone — students, faculty, and staff — under one roof, which strengthens our family-like culture and fosters greater collaboration.' Among the big curricular developments for the school under Myers's leadership, the school's MBA program went STEM in 2021. Cox has also partnered with SMU's Lyle School of Engineering to integrate engineering and computer science into its business programs, a cross-disciplinary approach that 'equips our students with the skills they need to excel in areas like AI, data analytics, and entrepreneurship.' The school recently 'revamped the curriculum to be more hands-on and aligned with real-world business practices,' Myers told Poets&Quants Editor-in-Chief John Byrne in 2024. Myers tells P&Q that after talking with Milbourn, he expects the handoff to the new dean to go smoothly. 'In speaking with Todd, I know he has tremendous respect for the accomplishments of the faculty, staff, and students at the Cox School, and will build on that legacy to continue Cox's ascent to global prominence,' Myers says. 'Todd's commitment to excellence in teaching, scholarship, administrative leadership, and to community are readily apparent in both his record and his message.' Over a 25-year tenure at WashU Olin, Milbourn has held multiple leadership appointments. He was senior associate dean of faculty and research from 2013 to 2017, vice dean of faculty and research from 2017 to 2022, and deputy dean from 2022 to 2023. Among his achievements in those roles: He increased the number of faculty members from 80 to 150 and improved research impact, expanded the Ph.D. program, led the rollout of several specialized master's programs, and facilitated the establishment of four new research centers. As deputy dean, he helped lead the school's strategic efforts to align with the broader university's strategic plan and increase engagement with the St. Louis business community. Milbourn is an expert on valuation, corporate finance, credit ratings and corporate governance, including executive compensation and its impact on long-term shareholder value, corporate decision-making and firm performance. He has been retained as an expert by private firms and the U.S. Department of Justice. He is a coauthor of The Value Sphere: Secrets of Creating and Retaining Shareholder Wealth, and has published articles in leading scholarly journals, including Journal of Finance, Journal of Financial Economics, Review of Financial Studies, Harvard Business Review, Sloan Management Review, Management Science, Journal of Accounting Research, and RAND Journal of Economics. He has received multiple awards from Washington University, including the Olin Award for Compensation Goals and Firm Performance, the St. Louis Founder's Day Distinguished Faculty Award, the Olin Award for Faculty Research That Impacts Business. He won the Reid Teaching Award at Olin 15 times during his time there. Milbourn previously taught finance at the London Business School and the University of Chicago before coming to Washington University. He earned a Ph.D. in finance in 1995 at Indiana University's Kelley School of Business. He received his bachelor's degree in economics, finance and mathematics from Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois in 1991, where he was also a four-year varsity letterman as a high jumper for the track and field team. DON'T MISS and The post SMU Cox Announces New Dean: WashU Olin Prof Todd Milbourn appeared first on Poets&Quants.
