Massachusetts Native Matty Beniers Wins NHL Rookie Of The Year
The Calder Memorial Trophy may be coming to the South Shore. Massachusetts native Matty Beniers was named the NHL Rookie Of The Year earlier this week. Beniers, who is from Hingham, was picked second overall by the Seattle Kraken in the 2021 NHL draft.
NHL stars from around the league gathered at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville Monday evening for their season finale awards show. Given their location, the event became a fascinating collision of music and sports. Rapper-turned-country singer Jelly Roll presented Beniers with his Calder Cup trophy and stood next to him onstage while he delivered a heartfelt acceptance speech.
Statistics
Beniers, who plays center for the Kraken, led all NHL rookies this year with 57 points. In his first complete season, Beniers scored 24 goals and had 33 assists. Furthermore, he helped lead the team to their first-ever appearance in the playoffs. The Kraken made quite a run. First, they knocked off the defending champion Colorado Avalanche. In the western conference semi-finals, the Kraken took the Dallas Stars to seven games before falling short by one goal.
Beniers was also named to the all-star team this past season. He was not able to play in the game, however, due to an injury.
From Hingham to Seattle
Prior to being drafted by the Kraken, Beniers skated his way across the country. His mother, Christine, was an actress on Broadway, and his father Bob is an engineer. They met at Cornell University and raised their family in Hingham. After a year at Milton Academy, he joined the USA Hockey National Team Development Program. He was then set to play for Harvard before COVID canceled the season and changed his plans.
Beniers then spent two seasons playing for the University of Michigan. He was the Big 10 scoring champion during his sophomore season. This led Beniers to enter the 2021 draft, where he would be the Seattle Kraken’s (expansion team) first-ever draft pick.
Now Beniers finds himself heading back to Massachusetts this off-season as the NHL Rookie of the Year. You can watch his full acceptance speech below.
Massachusetts Brewery Is Crushing It With Their Merchandise
“We have been given the name of Merch King Kong by our peers,” Dino Funari, founder of Vitamin Sea Brewing says. That is because this brewery has some of the most recognizable merchandise in Massachusetts.
Chances are you’ve seen (or have) a hat or t-shirt that sports the branding “VSB,” “South Shore,” “Sea,” an ocean/sunrise vector, or a duck on it. That’s all Vitamin Sea Brewing. In fact, some of their items are so popular they fly off the shelf as soon as they are stocked. Furthermore, you can’t buy them online. They are all purchased onsite.
Weymouth, MA
Vitamin Sea Brewing opened in February of 2019. Their taproom (and headquarters) in Weymouth features twelve taps covering a wide range of craft beer styles. IPAs and stouts are also available to purchase in cans. Some of the beers vary per season, while others are more standard. The Summer IPA, currently on tap, for example, is hopped with Citra, Cascade, and Columbus hops. In addition, on tap number 12, you will find Seas and Desist Blueberry Lemonade. This is Vitamin Sea’s take on hard seltzer.
Their location has a beer garden feel where outdoor seating is available, and they typically partner with food trucks onsite at least three days per week. If you go inside VSB’s Weymouth home base, you will find a colorful wall of t-shirts adjacent to the bar and rack of hats, jackets, sweatshirts and more along the right-side wall.
The Merch Line
“Our marketing strategy happened organically. Well before we opened, I was handing out hats, t-shirts, pins, and stickers to get the word out. And it paid off. We’re constantly asked to advertise monetarily, but we see more value in getting our merch out to people or groups (musicians, athletes, media personalities) with their own audiences and fan bases, which introduces them to our brand,” Funari explains, about VSB’s intent to create such merch.
They have one of New England’s more recognizable logos. Whether you are walking in downtown Portland, ME or attending the Levitate Music and Artist Festival in Marshfield, it is likely you will see the Vitamin Sea round logo or duck along the way. People are proud to represent the passion that Vitamin Sea pours into everything they do. Wearing their gear also shows pride in where you are from.
Here, Funari will take us inside the taproom to provide some insight into this killer Vitamin Sea Brewing merch.
Jeff Gorra is a Boston-based writer who has been with Beasley Media Group since the beginning of 2023. He writes about restaurants and food, as well as sports and rock music. His experience also includes show hosting and in-depth creative writing in rock and reggae dub music. Jeff’s an avid surfer, New York Giants, and Pearl Jam fan, however, if you make unforgettable pizza, he is sure to find you.
