Most people think ice hockey is about blood, beards and toothless grins. Canberra Brave captain Matt Harvey breaks all of those stereotypes, besides the beard.
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Behind his luscious Jumanji-like beard he's a therapeutic specialist, runs his own hockey apparel company and, perhaps most impressive, has written a book based on his hockey "nightmare".
A stairwell accident left the defenceman with a torn MCL, ACL, patella tendon and meniscus six years ago. Unable to work, let alone walk, Harvey put his creative writing diploma to good use and penned his first novella A Hockey Nightmare.
Some might say Harvey is a jack of all trades, but he says he just likes to try different things.
"I had a lot of time on my hands so I just wrote it," Harvey said.
"The story is a mesh of a few things. It's a fantasy experience of a hockey player who moves to Austria and runs into a few issues with a criminal organisation running the team. It's not too uncommon in Europe.
"People that have read it have given some positive feedback. They want another one so when I find the time I will get that on the bucket list."
Six years later and the 33-year-old Canadian finds himself leading the Brave on their mission to win back to back Australian Ice Hockey League titles.
After 117 matches, a captaincy and a championship, Harvey says he has no regrets since signing with the Brave in 2014.
The skipper revealed his hockey experiences in Canberra will inspire the next chapter of his books.
"I've just had some thoughts but nothing really down on paper yet," Harvey said.
"When you start writing a lot of the things that you write about are things from your own experiences in your life.
"So definitely something would find its way [into the novel] from Canberra."
Harvey steered the Brave to their first Goodall Cup when they triumphed over the Sydney Bears in last year's final.
Canberra will host the runners-up in a grand final rematch at Phillip Ice Skating Centre on Saturday afternoon.
While the Brave have kicked off the 2019 season to a perfect start, Harvey admitted the team was nervous ahead of their first match on home soil.
"We've had some success on the road so far but coming into the first home game we're a bit nervous," Harvey said.
"All in all, we're feeling confident from our previous games. Once you get off to a good start it's just about putting all of the pieces together.
"We have a good chance of winning again because we have a strong core and foundation that we have built over the past few years."
Canberra coach Rob Starke is confident his men can snag their fourth straight win of the season and put on a performance in front of their home crowd.
"We're confident we can keep up the effort and get the job done," Starke said.
"We've been developing a strong sense of accountability throughout the playing group and have been playing a high energy brand of hockey.
"It's been a long time coming so we're excited to deliver in front of our home crowd."
This weekend's clash will also mark the arrival of NHL veteran Matt Climie in the nation's capital. The former Dallas Stars and Phoenix Coyotes goalie joins Canadan recruits Tyler Mayea, Adam Kambeitz, Jordan Draper and Brayden Low in the Canberra team.
Climie won't don the skates until the club's clash with Perth Thunder on May 11, but anticipation is already building around the 36-year-old's debut.
"Everyone is pretty stoked to have someone of that caliber training with our team," Harvey said.
"So we're looking forward to meeting him."
AIHL ROUND FOUR
Saturday: Canberra Brave v Sydney Bears at Phillip Swimming & Ice Skating Centre, 5pm.
