It could have been a career keepsake for Matvei Gridin. Article content
Instead, it is a wardrobe staple for four-year-old Bo Burgess, something he will be taking to show-and-tell for years to come. Article content Article content
Bo’s dad, Parker, coached Gridin for two seasons with the USHL’s Muskegon Lumberjacks. They were there at the 2024 NHL Draft, when the Calgary Flames selected this Russian speedster toward the end of the first round.
On one of the biggest nights of his life, soon to be topped by his debut in Wednesday’s season-opening Battle of Alberta, Gridin smiled through the photo ops and later gifted his special-edition draft hat — the one he was handed mere moments after his name was called — to his biggest little fan.
“Matvei was one of the guys on the team who was