Canton senior Matt Wright has been selected as the HockomockSports.com Player of the Week, presented by Morse Insurance, for March 9 through March 15. Wright is the 27th athlete chosen as Player of the Week for the 2025-26 school year and the 13th in the winter season.
Wright waited until his senior season to get his shot to be the starting goalie for the Bulldogs and he made it count with a string of outstanding saves that helped Canton come from behind to beat Tewksbury in the Div. 2 state title game on Sunday afternoon at the TD Garden. For the season, Wright and the Bulldogs allowed only 17 goals in 25 games.
Canton senior defenseman Teddy Shuman said of Wright after the state title game, “I’m so proud of him. He’s the hardest worker and I feel like he kind of doubted himself last year and working with him all offseason, I’ve never seen someone work harder. I’m a big believer that hard work shows up on the biggest stage and it did today. He was the MVP today and he was awesome.”
Wright played his best in the biggest games of the season, including regular season shutouts of Final Four teams Hingham and Tewksbury. In the playoffs, he pulled off a series of stops that directly contributed to close wins, including a last-minute kick save that secured a shutout and a one-goal win over Walpole in the quarterfinal. Against Burlington in the Final Four, Wright denied the Red Devils several gilt-edged chances to add to its lead in the first and second periods, giving the Bulldogs time to find their feet and take control.
On Sunday at the Garden, Wright put in the best performance of his Canton career against one of the state’s most prolific attacks. He made 10 saves in the first period, showing off his reflexes to keep out a couple of point-blank shots that looked destined for the back of the net. In the second, he made a couple excellent saves when Tewksbury star Tyler Bourgea got free in the zone. After Canton tied the game early in the third, Wright made the save of the season. Bourgea got loose on a breakaway, but Wright stayed with it and threw out a right pad to deny the senior his 200th career point. The Bulldogs were lifted by the save and went on to score with 1:22 remaining and win a fourth title in the past seven seasons.
The Player of the Week, presented by Morse Insurance, is selected by the HockomockSports.com staff. Nominations can be submitted throughout the week up until Saturday night at 8:00 PM. There may be a poll posted on Sunday with the nominations. The results of the poll influence the selection but do not strictly dictate the decision.
Matt Wright
Matt Wright The Player of the Week, presented by Morse Insurance, is selected by the HockomockSports.com staff. Nominations can be submitted throughout the week up until Saturday night at midnight. There may be a poll posted on every Sunday with the nominations. The results of the poll influence the selection but do not strictly dictate the decision. Matt Wright The Player of the Week, presented by Morse Insurance, is selected by the HockomockSports.com staff. Nominations can be submitted throughout the week up until Saturday night at midnight. There may be a poll posted on every Sunday with the nominations. The results of the poll influence the selection but do not strictly dictate the decision. Matt Wright The Player of the Week, presented by Morse Insurance, is selected by the HockomockSports.com staff. Nominations can be submitted throughout the week up until Saturday night at midnight. There may be a poll posted on every Sunday with the nominations. The results of the poll influence the selection but do not strictly dictate the decision. Matt Wright The Player of the Week, presented by Morse Insurance, is selected by the HockomockSports.com staff. Nominations can be submitted throughout the week up until Saturday night at midnight. There may be a poll posted on every Sunday with the nominations. The results of the poll influence the selection but do not strictly dictate the decision. Matt Wright The Player of the Week, presented by Morse Insurance, is selected by the HockomockSports.com staff. Nominations can be submitted throughout the week up until Saturday night at midnight. There may be a poll posted on every Sunday with the nominations. The results of the poll influence the selection but do not strictly dictate the decision. Matt Wright The Player of the Week, presented by Morse Insurance, is selected by the HockomockSports.com staff. Nominations can be submitted throughout the week up until Saturday night at midnight. There may be a poll posted on every Sunday with the nominations. The results of the poll influence the selection but do not strictly dictate the decision. Matt Wright The Player of the Week, presented by Morse Insurance, is selected by the HockomockSports.com staff. Nominations can be submitted throughout the week up until Saturday night at midnight. There may be a poll posted on every Sunday with the nominations. The results of the poll influence the selection but do not strictly dictate the decision. Matt Wright The Player of the Week, presented by Morse Insurance, is selected by the HockomockSports.com staff. Nominations can be submitted throughout the week up until Saturday night at midnight. There may be a poll posted on every Sunday with the nominations. The results of the poll influence the selection but do not strictly dictate the decision.
Canton senior Matt Wright celebrates with the Division 2 state championship trophy after helping the Bulldogs beat Tewksbury in the finals at the TD Garden. (Ryan Lanigan/HockomockSports.com)
BOSTON, Mass. – Less than a minute after Canton battled back to tie Sunday afternoon’s thrilling Div. 2 state title game at the TD Garden, the Bulldogs allowed Tewksbury star Tyler Bourgea to get behind the defense. The only person standing between one of the best forwards in the state and the Redmen regaining the lead was Canton senior goalie Matt Wright.
Bourgea drove at goal, going to his backhand side. Wright, who waited three years to finally get his chance to be the Canton starter, stayed with the puck and flashed out a right pad. At full stretch, he was able to make the save and preserve the tie.
“That’s the defining moment right there,” senior defenseman Teddy Shuman said about Wright’s breakaway save. “That’s the best player in the state coming down. Everything was in slow motion right there.”
He continued, “When he got the pad out, I looked at the bench and I said let’s go, now we’ve got this. That was the turning point. It came very late, but it flipped the script. That’s a save that should be played a lot in the future.”
After the game, Canton coach Brian Shuman embraced Wright and shared a moment with a player who he’s seen play for more than a decade. Asked about that moment, Shuman was effusive in his praise for his goalie.
“Matt didn’t even dress in this game,” he said about the 2025 final. “We were the last two out of the locker room and we were both in tears and he said to me, ‘I don’t know if I can do this. I don’t know if I can bring us back.’ I said, you absolutely can.”
“We just had a moment on the ice remembering what happened a year ago.”
Canton came into the final having allowed just 16 goals in 24 games. Wright was quick to praise “the best defense in the state” for that stat, but he has played a massive (and largely unheralded) role in the Bulldogs lifting the trophy.
In just the final three rounds of the tournament alone, he came through with a huge save in the final minute to preserve a one-goal lead and a shutout in the quarterfinal against Walpole. Against Burlington in the Final Four, he made several key stops to give Canton the chance to figure things out and mount a comeback.
On Sunday, Wright was tested time and again by one of the most potent attacking teams in the state and each time he passed the test with a string of outstanding stops.
He had to make 10 saves in the first period against Tewksbury. He gloved a backhand shot from the slot, made a series of point-blank stops by staying strong with his pads, and showed off his reflexes to deny a late redirection that had him off balance. It continued into the second, where he twice made saves when Bourgea got free on the left side.
A rare defensive slip gave Tewksbury the lead with a second to play before the intermission, but the Bulldogs rallied. Elrick picked the corner three minutes into the third to make it 1-1. Tewksbury could have jumped right back in front if not for Wright’s heroics on the Bourgea breakaway.
Asked about the save of the night, Wright replied, “Really just don’t mess up, that was the thought in my head. It was a big moment and to be honest I can’t remember, it was just a lot. After that, I was like okay we’ve got it, we’re going to pull this one out. That’s all I can remember. It’s a blur right now.”
He also made a point-blank stop on Jack Ryan and another good save on Jake Batts when he got free on the edge of the crease with less than four minutes to play.
As the final horn sounded, Wright flung his stick, his glove, and his mask to the sky and was quickly embraced by sophomore forward Brayden Dickie before being engulfed by the rest of his teammates.
“I was nervous,” Wright admitted with a laugh when asked about his mindset coming into the final. “Just staying settled in net is super important. Not getting too high, not getting too low, but we all came back for the third settled down and that made all the difference.”
Wright had a long, difficult wait to get his opportunity to play for Canton, but he got the dream ending. Almost 30 minutes after the game, it was all still sinking in for him and his classmates.
“It was so special for him and it was so special for us to see him bring it home like he did today,” Teddy Shuman said. “He was the MVP today and he was awesome.”
Shuman added, “I’m getting chills. I’m so proud of him. He’s the hardest worker and I feel like he kind of doubted himself last year and working with him all offseason, I’ve never seen someone work harder. I’m a big believer that hard work shows up on the biggest stage and it did today.”
Canton boys hockey celebrates with the Division 2 state championship trophy after beating Tewksbury at the TD Garden. (Ryan Lanigan/HockomockSports.com)
BOSTON, Mass. – Following the disappointment of a double overtime loss in last year’s Div. 2 state title game, Canton’s returning players made a promise to each other. The Bulldogs made a pact to get back to the TD Garden and this time finish the job.
With 15 minutes remaining in Sunday afternoon’s final, the second part of that pact looked to be in serious doubt.
A rare mistake in the defensive zone gifted Tewksbury with the go-ahead goal just seconds before the intermission. After trailing in only three games during the regular season, the Bulldogs trailed for the second playoff round in a row. A week ago, Canton stormed back to put away Burlington at the Conte Forum and, in the locker room, confidence was high that the Bulldogs could do it again on the biggest stage.
Junior Ryan Elrick sniped the top corner to tie the score early in the third and, with less than 90 seconds to play, classmate Cam Guerschuny pounced on a loose puck and slid it into the corner to put Canton in front. Senior goalie Matt Wright (22 saves) delivered his best performance of the season and Canton (24-1-0) skated away with a 2-1 victory and its fourth state title in the past seven seasons.
“It’s a storybook ending,” said Canton coach Brian Shuman. “I started with this group when they learned to skate in Mighty Mites and then we had some new guys get added but the new guys get brought into the fold. It’s a special group that’s taken a lot of pride in playing together, enjoyed playing together. Playing with your friends for your town, there’s nothing better than that.”
For the seniors, it was a title to bookend their high school careers. Canton won in 2023 when they were freshmen and they added a second title to finish it off. “I felt before the game that we were going to pull it out, I just didn’t know how,” said senior defenseman Teddy Shuman. “I didn’t see it going down like that but it’s a great feeling. It’s been a great journey. I’m so thankful to have all the guys with me. It’s unbelievable right now.”
When the teams met earlier this season, Canton rolled to a 5-0 win at the Tsongas Center in the final of the Ed Burns Coffee Pot Tournament. There was no question that the Redmen came to the TD Garden looking to exact revenge and the No. 2 seed got off to a strong start.
Kevin Andriolo, who was missing in the first meeting, tested Wright with an early backhand from the slot. Later in the first, Wright made a pair of point-blank saves and Shuman made a crucial block on another shot from the edge of the crease. Andriolo also struck the post and Wright needed to make a terrific pad stop on a deft tip in front.
Canton wasn’t devoid of offensive intent, even if things didn’t seem to be clicking as usual in the first. Gavin O’Toole set up fellow sophomore Brayden Dickie for a shot in the slot that went high. On an odd-man rush, Joey Ryan narrowly missed the stick of Elrick at the far post and Andrew Gillis had a shot from the right-wing circle saved.
Ryan had another chance late in the period when he threw the puck into the skates of Tewksbury goalie Cole Abruzi, but the Redmen were able to cover up.
Things continued in a similar vein early in the second. A turnover left Tewksbury star Tyler Bourgea open in the slot but Wright made the save. Jake Batts also got free in the slot but his shot blazed over the bar (possibly off the stick of a Canton defenseman). Bourgea had another chance when he dangled to the near post, but Wright kept the pad down to keep the shot out.
Canton started to tilt the ice as the second period wore on. Cullen O’Brien made a nice backhand feed to Shane Kelleher out in front but the one-timer was blocked. Kelleher then found James Howard on the edge of the crease but Abruzi kicked out a leg to deny the goal.
With 1:48 left in the period, Shuman fired a shot from the blue line that Abruzi knocked aside. Canton kept the play alive and Ryan set up Gillis only to have Abruzi get across and make a sprawling save.
The Bulldogs had momentum as the clock ticked down to the end of the period, but an attempt to be aggressive going up ice in the defensive zone led to a turnover. Bourgea stole the puck and found Andriolo just inside the left-wing circle to put the Redmen in front.
It was a stunning turn of events, but the Bulldogs have been in big games many times before and they showed the resiliency needed to be champions.
“We came back twice against Burlington, we have plenty of time, and there was a level of calm on the bench,” Shuman said about the team’s focus going to the third. “We were playing tentative for sure in those first couple periods and I think that kind of shook us up at that point and we said we need to start making some plays.”
A little more than three minutes into the third, sophomore defenseman Kellen Labanara made a rush up the right wing and ran into traffic. He managed to slip a pass through a swarm of skates and it found its way to the stick of Elrick. The team’s leading scorer snapped off an unstoppable shot to the far corner, tying the game at 1-1.
“He gave me the puck cutting through the middle and the scouting report on the goalie was high to the blocker and I finally hit it,” Elrick recalled. “It felt so good to get the first one and I knew we weren’t done after that one.”
Chances started to come thick and fast with both teams feeling the next goal could win the title. Cam Washburn forced a pad save from the right wing and Liam Connolly was inches away from latching onto the rebound. On the other end, Jack Ryan set up Batts for a point-blank chance that Wright saved.
Dickie sent a pass across the zone for Guerschuny to test Abruzi (29 saves), then Jack Ryan stabbed a shot on goal from close range forcing another kick save from Wright. With time starting to wind down, Howard dropped it for O’Brien to fire on target and Labanara, Elrick, and Gillis combined to get a shot in the slot.
With 1:22 remaining, senior defenseman Graidy Carr stepped up from the blue line and blasted a shot towards goal. The puck was knocked down by the bodies in front of Abruzi and Guerschuny was the first to react, sliding the puck into the open side of the net to put the Bulldogs in front and set off a wild celebration on the home bench.
“It’s just a dream,” Guerschuny tried to explain. “I couldn’t even explain everything. We’re one big family in there, one goal in mind, and it was just get the job done. We all did it together. I’m just so happy.”
The goal held up as the winner. At the final horn, the Bulldogs raced onto the ice, with pads, helmets, and sticks flying through the air, to celebrate the completion of the mission that they set for themselves in the TD Garden locker room one year ago.
“We all hold ourselves to high standards and I knew we weren’t going to go out like that,” Teddy Shuman said. “We all pick each other up when we’re down. We took control in the third period and the rest is history.”
His father added, “These guys never said revenge tour or anything like that but these guys were driven and you can tell, even though they didn’t say it, this was the ultimate goal.”
Elrick was already looking ahead to another run in 2027. He said, “We pride ourselves on being here every year. We’re going to give 100 percent, we’re going to play this system, and it’s right back to the start. This is always the end goal.”
As he is just about every year, Brian Shuman was asked to put into perspective what it means to keep getting back to the final every year. What is it about Canton that makes the hockey program perform at this level each season?
“It’s a hockey community and it’s wonderful,” he explained. “Every Saturday at 11 a.m., we have a team meeting at Ponky and two hours before that our guys are volunteering at Learn to Skate.”
“Looking down on the ice from the top of the rink and seeing the oldest kids in our youth hockey program and the youngest and that to me is a perfect symbol of what this town brings as a hockey community.”
