Matthew Albiani Feature

Busy, busy, busy: the three favorite words of one Ottawa 67's forward. Growing up in Sudbury, Ontario, life was never dull for this time management extraordinaire. Sports, music, school and extra curricular activities have compiled this 19 year old's life since birth. For Ottawa University Student Matthew Albiani, his drive to keep busy is one way for him to stay focused.

When Matthew was younger, his mother and father wanted him to see the big picture when it came to options that were available for him to pursue. At the age of three, Matthew was enrolled in a year of figure skating. Although he did not stay in it for much more then one year, Matthew was hooked on the idea of skating.

At age four, his parents agreed to sign him up to play hockey. "I really wanted to play because my older brothers were playing, but once I started, I loved it," Matthew said. His first team was in Sudbury where he played Mickey Mouse for the Red Devils. His older brother Steve Albiani, went on to play hockey for Queen's University this year and his other older brother Dave Albiani played AA Hockey as well as Leisure Hockey.

When Matthew turned six years old, he was introduced to a new sport that he would love as much as hockey and would challenge his choice to stay with hockey. When his father would go down to the Golf Driving Range, Matthew would tag along and hit balls around. His love for golf grew and grew until he began to take lessons to improve his skills. "I love golf. I go to a Private Club, where we have a membership in Sudbury. I took golf very seriously for many years and I sometimes use to think that I would actually play golf instead of hockey," Matthew commented on the game. Matthew still, to this day, plays golf all summer with his friends and father. "It's nice because I would go with my dad and I could practice and I could also spend time with him. We have lots of fun when we go out golfing."

Having fun is important to Matthew, but one of the things that he loved the most about golf was the fact that you meet many different people. "Golfing at the Private Club was a great experience because I met and talked to different people that I normally would not talk to. There are so many different types of people that belong to the club and because we all have a common interest we all get along great. I've made some friends that that I know I would have never met had it not been for golfing, that's one of the up sides to it."

Golf aside, Matthew has done many things that most hockey players have not. His mother is the Church Choir Director of the Sudbury Singers. "My mom really wanted me to have a broader perspective of what was out there for me as options of what I could do and not only do sports all the time. So, I sang in her choir at Christmas time, I wasn't always a tough OHL player," he said. Mrs. Albiani also encouraged her son to do more then just sing. When he was seven years old, Matthew took piano lessons. He would do exercises every week from a book and then go to his lessons.

Matthew's adventure into the world of the Arts did not stop there. He was in the 'Christmas Story' play as Joseph and he was also in the play version of Robert Munche's much loved book, 'Mortimer'. The theater was not where Matthew found himself staying. When he was six years old, his parents took him to the Broadway Musical CATS in Toronto. When the show began, the characters began to come down the isle with giant catheads and very bright lights. "The people turned towards me and with all the lights in my face I just lost it. I started to cry and I couldn't stop. My parents had to take me out of the theater I was crying so hard," Matthew said thinking back and laughing. His attention was turned to musical instruments again when he played the drums in grade seven and in grade nine he took up the trombone.

To keep busy in the summer time, the Albiani's built a cottage about half an hour South of Sudbury, when Matthew was seven and eight years old. "The cottage took us two summers to build and we had a blast doing it," Matthew recalled. Matthew and his siblings often kept themselves busy at the cottage by fishing for catfish. "We would dress up in old clothes and these funny looking hats and go fishing when ever we could," and although they never really caught anything it was just the relaxing and peaceful feeling of being out doors that drew Matthew to it.

Then, when Matthew was 11 years old, he discovered new sports and decided to stick with the world of sports. He played baseball and T-Ball for a while. Soccer took up a huge part of his time. Playing soccer in high school and still in the summer back in Sudbury, he grew to love other sports and played Division 1. His team last year was one away from playing in the OFSA tournament.

With all the sports and arts, growing up, Matthew still found time to do other things such as schoolwork, sea-doing, ice fishing and other interactive things. "Doing so many things really gave me the opportunity to gain experiences and I was so happy that I got to try out so many different things. It makes deciding what to do later so much easier," Matthew said. Time management was a main factor in all of Matthew's decisions. "I love to be busy. I cannot sit around and do nothing. It's such a challenge but so much fun," he said confidently.

Some people might wonder how Matthew did all this and still had time to attended the same things that all other people his age do. The answer was, he did not get to do all the normal high school things. "In high school I never really got to go to any of the semi-formals, or dances, or even go on the March Break trips because I had to play hockey. I missed all of those things. I have missed out on some of the things that most people get to go. But when I think about all of the stuff that I have had a chance to do that a lot of people will never have a shot at, I don't mind missing those things. I am very luck to have had the opportunities that I have had and I don't regret any of it."

Despite the lack of time to work in things like school functions, Matthew, since coming to Ottawa, has had some time to do other things. With no soccer during the hockey season there is more time, but still a very minimal amount, for Matthew to do other things. Last year he managed to attend a Dave Matthews concert as well as going to the Our Lady Peace concert this year. He goes to the movies with his friends and teammates to catch the latest blockbusters and still makes time to attend classes and complete schoolwork for his University courses. "There is always something to do in Ottawa. I always have my spare time filled with something. Ottawa has so many events to go to that when I do get a spare moment I can easily fill it with something fun."

No matter what Matthew does he knows that his love for hockey will never die, "hockey is so time consuming but I love it because it is team orientated, more so then any other sport. It is such an intense game and such a huge thing in Canada, I know that I will be playing as long as I can."

Now that University classes are over for the year and all that is left are exams, Matthew can concentrate on the playoffs. Time management is one of the most crucial and important things in today's life and Matthew Albiani has a strong hold on how to do it. Keeping busy is one way to stay focused but when you are busy with the things that you love, like Matthew, focus will almost always come from your passion for the things you do. Maybe this is why Matthew is so good at what he does.


				*Official Ottawa 67's Booster Club* *Matthew Albiani Feature*



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