Mat Robinson: attacking and effective
The latest KHL.ru feature on a legend of the league looks at one of the best two-way defensemen in the KHL’s history, Mat Robinson.
A Scandinavian reboot
Mat Robinson is another of those players who sought his fortune in North America but found that he couldn’t get far up the hockey pyramid back home. Nobody believed in him enough for a shot at the AHL, never mind the NHL, and he played just five games at that level. The turning point came when he decided to move to Europe in 2010. After that, the Canadian’s career came on in leaps and bounds.
Indeed, when the defenseman decided to move he found there wasn’t much demand for his services in Europe. He ended up playing in Norway’s semi-pro championship.
“At that time, nobody was rushing to sign me up,” Robinson said in an interview with the KHL’s official site. “There’s no question that I agreed to go there with just one goal – to do everything in my power to show my best hockey and earn that trust.”
Mat Robinson
551 games
228 (75+153) points
Gagarin Cup winner (2019)
Olympic bronze medallist (2018)
Russian championship bronze (2015)
Best plus / minus in the regular season (2016, 2018)
Norwegian champion (2011)
KHL All-Star (2016, 2017, 2020)
Sep. 5, 2013 KHL debut for Dinamo Riga
May 3, 2014 signed for Dynamo Moscow
April 2, 2015 Russian championship bronze medal
Jan. 23, 2016 first KHL All-Star appearance
May 24, 2016 presented with the “most effective player” prize
At that stage in his career, the big thing for Robinson was to play games. And at Sparta Sarpsborg he fully repaid the team’s faith in him. With 43 (14+29) points he was the top-scoring defenseman in the Norwegian championship and made a huge contribution to his club’s title-winning season. “That season helped me to really reboot my career after a tough start in North American,” Robinson recalled.
As a rule, when a player does well in Norway the next step is to move to another Nordic nation and compete at a higher level. Robinson followed that path, going to Sweden to play for Timra. In his first season, he shared third place for team scoring. A year later he was up to second. And in 15 playoff games, he had 15 points. That kind of form guaranteed the Canadian a shot at a higher level once again.
Alongside Ozolins
In Dinamo Riga’s first KHL seasons, the club’s recruitment was high level. GM Normunds Sejejs brought together almost every top Latvian player and seasoned the mix with high-quality, if little-known and affordable imports. Typically, the club did a good job of getting best value from its foreign players. Robinson fit the bill perfectly: a heavyweight performer on a relatively modest budget.
“I barely even had to think before accepting the offer from Riga. The KHL is one of the strongest leagues in the world and I really wanted to play here. When I was in Sweden my main aim was to get into this league, because the level of hockey here is really high and they are gathering the strongest players. The KHL is seriously competitive, with encourages you to develop and progress. That’s why I worked so hard to get here.”
Mat Robinson
In Riga, the newcomer went into the first defensive pair alongside captain and Latvian legend Sandis Ozolins. Those two shared almost 50 points from the blue line and were especially effective on the power play.
“When you play with someone like Sandis, you learn so much. The simple fact that at 42 years of age Ozolins was playing at such a high level is just amazing! He was a true leader, he always carried the team with him and I’m really happy that I was trusted to play alongside him. It goes without saying that Ozolins was in unbelievable physical condition; he played as many minutes as me. He’s just a fantastic player.”
Mat Robinson
After a season in Riga, Robinson was on the move again. He got an offer from Dynamo Moscow. In his first season with the Blue-and-Whites, the Canadian won a bronze medal. In his second, he was the leading goalscorer among defensemen (14 goals) and had the best plus / minus in the league (+31). After a third campaign, he joined CSKA.
Hardware with CSKA and Canada
In 2017, CSKA underway a full-scale rebuild of the roster. During the summer, the club replaced more than half the team. Many strong players joined the club at a time when it was laying the foundations for its future success: three Gagarin Cups and two final losses in six seasons. Robinson was one of the newcomers.
He spent four seasons with CSKA and won the Gagarin Cup. He also had four Russian championship medals: two gold and two silver. Throughout his time at the club, he demonstrated his strengths. His biggest contribution was classy attacking play, but this never came at a cost to his defensive duties. In 2019-2020, Robinson had a +35 rating, sharing first place with Artyom Zub. Through nine KHL seasons, Mat never finished with a negative ranking. His ‘worst’ result was +13.
Robinson’s consistent and productive play in the KHL brought him to the attention of Team Canada. He first played for his country at the Deutschland Cup in 2016, part of the Euro Hockey Challenge. By then it was already clear that NHL players would not go to the 2018 Olympics, so Canada was preparing a roster of European-based players to represent the country in PyeongChang.
July 6, 2017 joined CSKA on a two-year contract
Feb. 24, 2018 helped team Canada to Olympic bronze in PyeongChang.
April 19, 2019 won the Gagarin Cup with CSKA
Sep. 15, 2021 signed a one-year deal with SKA
April 15, 2022 announced his retirement
Robinson went through several warm-up tournament, including an appearance in Moscow at the Channel 1 Cup in December 2017. He was selected for the tournament in Korea, where many expected a Russia vs Canada final. Things seemed to be heading that way, but in the semi-final Russia’s potential opponent unexpectedly lost to Germany. Not even a goal from Robinson could save the Canadians. Even so, he wasn’t left without a medal. In the game for bronze, Canada got the verdict against the Czechs.
Four years later in Beijing, Robinson was back at the Games. This time, though, he couldn’t add another medal as Canada lost to Sweden in the quarterfinal.
That 2021-2022 season was the end for Robinson. He spent it with SKA, where he played in the first pair alongside Mikko Lehtonen. They regularly played 25-27 minutes each night. Therefore it was a surprise to hear that, at the relatively young age of 35, Robinson announcing his departure from the game a day after SKA came out of the playoffs.
“Thank you Russia and the KHL for accepting me and allowing me to raise my game to a level that many people never believed I could reach. These were the best years of my life.
Mat Robinson
Factfile
Mat Robinson
Born June 20 1986 in Calgary (Canada)
Playing career: 2005-2009 – University of Alaska, 2008-2009 – Las Vegas Wranglers (ECHL), 2009-2010 – Binghampton Senators (AHL), Elmira Jackals (ECHL), 2010-2011 – Sparta (Norway), 2011-2013 – Timra (Sweden), 2013-2014 – Dinamo Riga (KHL), 2014-2017 – Dynamo Moscow (KHL), 2017-2021 – CSKA (KHL), 2021-2022 – SКА (KHL).
Player achievements: bronze medalist of the Olympics (2018), winner of the Gagarin Cup (2019), winner (2019, 2020), silver (2018, 2021) and bronze (2015) medalist of the Russian championships, champion of Norway (2011).
