Matt Filippi becomes Little Falls' 4th member of 200-point club

Matt Filippi entered a rare club of Little Falls’ hockey players Tuesday, Feb. 7.

The senior scored two goals in the Flyers’ 4-2 win over St. Cloud Cathedral which made him the fourth player in Flyers history to reach 200 career points.

Filippi joins Jared Festler, Ben Hanowski and Beau Hanowski as a part of Little Falls’ 200-point club.

He scored the game-winning goal at the 16:14 mark of the third period to reach the milestone and followed it with an empty-net goal 38 seconds later.
“It was really special for me,” Filippi said. “The first thing I did was look into the stand and I saw my mom and family. It was just special and kind of surreal to share that moment with them.”

Filippi said the accomplishment didn’t really hit him until the next day.

“I saw a tweet that mentioned I joined the club with Jared Festler, Ben Hanowski and Beau Hanowksi,” he said. “To be in that group of guys and those types of names is special and tells you how important this program is and how special it is to put on a Flyers sweater.”

Flyers head coach Joey Hanowski said Filippi entered an elite club with his milestone.

“He’s been on varsity forever and has been producing at a high level for all those years and I was very happy to share that moment with him,” Hanowski said. “It was special. He missed one against Northern Lakes last Saturday that he usually doesn’t miss. To have it be a game-winner against a big section opponent like Cathedral made it extra special for him and our team. As a coach, it’s pretty special. In your program, there are not a lot of Matt Filippis that get to go through and getting to coach him the last two years has been an honor.”

Filippi has been on varsity since he was in eighth grade where he was coached by longtime Flyers head coach Tony Couture.

“When we brought him up as an eighth grader, we put him right in the lineup,” Couture said. “We saw really good things out of him. He has a heck of a shot and even back then as an eighth grader. In our program, you are hoping for kids to reach 100 points, so to play in that amount of games — I think he’s going to break that record — and get 200 points; it feels like yesterday we brought him up as an eighth grader and now he’s a senior reaching this amazing feat.”

Couture said it was a no-brainer to bring Filippi up on varsity as an eighth grader.

“He was a big kid even as an eighth grader,” he said. “That kind of sealed the deal for us to bring him up. He was a strong kid and very talented on the ice. My theory was if you are going to bring a kid up on the varsity he has to play right away, so he did.”

As an eighth grader, Filippi amassed 24 points with eight goals and 16 assists. In his second season on varsity, he scored 27 points with eight goals and 19 assists.

“I think that shot is very hard and he lets it rip all the time,” Couture said. “We used to tell him ‘you have to shoot.’ and that’s what he did. He’s improved on his skating and his physical play which all contributes to him getting to 200 points.”

In Couture’s last season as coach, Filippi’s sophomore year, he registered 28 points in the shortened COVID-19 season. In that season, the Flyers also reached the Class 1A state tournament where they beat Delano in the quarterfinals before falling to Dodge County in the semis.

Filippi said one of his favorite memories playing for the Flyers was Couture’s 400th win in 2019.

“I was grateful to be a part of that one,” he said.

In his senior season, Filippi has recorded 46 points on 17 goals and 29 assists to lead the Flyers.

“I just try to do what I can do to help the team win,” Filippi said. “I don’t think about what I can do differently.”

Last season, Filippi tallied 75 points with 35 goals and 40 assists.

“He’s a lead-by-example type of player,” Hanowski said. “He’s one of our hardest workers on the team and every kid kind of falls in line after that. There is definitely no slacking in Matt’s game from that point. He’s pretty positive, but he’s pretty intense too. I think he is going to be there when you need to be picked up as a teammate, but he’s also not afraid to hold kids accountable, which is what you want to see in a leader.”

Hanowski added that while Filippi was an “offensive juggernaut” last year, he’s played a more complete game as a senior.

“He’s playing a 200-foot game,” he said. “He’s been really good defensively for us. Penalty kill he’s been outstanding. So he’s just rounding himself out as a complete player this year, which is what I’ve seen.”

Filippi says the experience of being on varsity for five years has helped him.

“When I was in eighth grade on varsity there were nerves every game,” he said. “Now, after playing over 100 games there are still little nerves here and there, but there is a calm before every game.”

Filippi thanked all his youth coaches and former teammates for helping him become a member of the 200-point club at Little Falls.

“I’m just grateful for all the guys I got to play with like Hayden Johnson, Nick Stevens, Carter Oothoudt — I’m just thankful for all the guys I got to play with,” he said.