"You're here, watching him play, and you think back …
"I was there when he first skated on ice, back at the Glacier, back in Mount Pearl, Newfoundland. He was five years old at the time. And I remember he really wanted that black piece of rubber.
"He still wants it.
"I've watched him all the way up. I have so many memories. Oh, hundreds of them. My mind is full of them. I remember a game down in Medicine Hat, a bantam game. They're in a tournament. The fans in front of me were giving Matthew a hard time. I usually stand, not sit, at minor hockey games.
"Anyway, the face-off's at the far end, and Matthew, playing centre, got the draw, came off the boards, skated the length of the ice and scored.
"So I had to go over to these three chaps giving him the grief, tapped one of them on the shoulder, pointed to the ice and said: 'That's Matthew Phillips.'"
When grandpa Don first came out west, way west, to visit Donna, as a working media person he got in touch with then Flames' media Rick Skaggs for practice and game access.
The tie has only grown from then on.
"It's a really unique story,'' agrees Phillips. "My mom's lived here for over 30 years, so whenever he'd be out this way, being a sportswriter, he'd have the connections.
"Grandpa and (Flames' VP of communications) Peter Hanlon are pretty good friends, both Maritimers. So ever since I was little he'd try and get me up into the press box. He took my older cousin up once or twice, but I never got to.
"Whenever he was here, he'd always make his way down to the 'Dome. He took me to a pre-game skate a couple times. That was exciting.
"As time's gone along, he's had more and more reminders for everyone. 'Watch this kid. He's coming up. Keep your eye out.' That type of thing.
"And, as I said, he kept telling everyone I'd be drafted by the Flames. So when it actually happened, he was really excited. I think Peter was one of the first people he contacted and there've been a lot of 'I told you so!'s since then.