Friend says nothing 'fishy' about Mathers' death

By GREGG DRINNAN
Daily News Sports Editor
There was nothing “fishy” about the death of Mike Mathers, according to a friend of the former Kamloops Blazers forward.
Terry Friesen, a former WHL goaltender who played four seasons with Mathers in Fresno, Calif., said Thursday that Mathers simply went to bed Saturday night in St. Albert, Alta., and didn’t wake up.
“His mom talked to him (Saturday) night,” said Friesen, 30, who played three seasons with the WHL’s Swift Current Broncos (1995-98). “He printed off a crossword, went to bed and didn’t wake up in the morning. He passed in his sleep; there was nothing fishy.”
Mathers, who would have turned 36 on June 20, was found dead Sunday morning in the home he shared with his mother and sister.
The RCMP in St. Albert have said his death was “non-suspicious.” The medical examiner has told the St. Albert Gazette that a cause of death won’t be available for up to three months.
Mathers played three seasons (1990-93) with the Blazers and was an integral part of the team that won the 1992 Memorial Cup. He led the 1992 tournament in scoring and tied a Memorial Cup record with a six-point game.
He was an eighth-round selection by the Washington Capitals in the NHL’s 1992 draft. While Mathers never played in the NHL, he went on to a professional career that concluded following eight seasons with the Fresno Falcons. They played in the West Coast league before moving to the ECHL prior to the 2003-04 season.
“He lived at my house in Fresno for a while,” Friesen said, “so I knew him quite well.”
A third-round pick by the San Jose Sharks in the 1996 NHL draft, Friesen played four seasons in Fresno, including 2003-04.
“I played with him his last season,” Friesen said. “He tore a hamstring that season . . . tore it clean off the bone.”
Friesen recalled that Mathers didn’t have surgery until late in the summer of 2004.
“He didn’t play after that,” Friesen said, adding that Mathers “lived with me for over a year after he was done playing and then decided to go back to Edmonton. He was trying to rehab his leg.”
Mathers played a key role when the Falcons won the 2002 Taylor Cup as WCHL champions. He had 10 points in 10 playoff games, and it was his rebound off a 2-on-1 break that Kris Porter banged home for the title-clinching goal in overtime of Game 6 against the Idaho Steelheads.
“His number would be hanging in the rafters if he wasn’t so ‘to himself,’ ” Friesen said. “He wasn’t an easy guy to get to know because he was quiet and didn’t like dealing with fans.”
DJ Jacklin, the president of the team’s booster club, the Falconeers, remembers Mathers as being a private person.
“After each booster club event Mike was the first to say thank you,” Jacklin offered. “There were many times we had the opportunity to talk.
“There were some people who felt Mike was quiet and shy, maybe standoffish . . . no, not at all. He was just a private person.
“But once you got to know him, it was as if you had known him forever.”
Jacklin added that Mathers definitely make his mark in Fresno.
“Have you ever had a friend . . . when you thought of him or her or heard someone mention their name, that you just smiled and felt the presence of that person?” Jacklin added. “That’s what happens when I think of Mike . . . he just brought that out in you.
“He touched a lot of people. . . . I doubt he really knew the depth of how much we appreciated him here in Fresno.”
Along with remembering Mathers for his quiet nature, Friesen said that his friend “was in unbelievable shape. He would take his shirt off and your jaw would hit the floor. He just loved training.
“I can’t help but think that had to be part of his demise. If you spent some time in a gym next to him on a treadmill, you’re not even in the same league. It was unbelievable how hard he worked. I can’t help but think that was part of it.”
Mathers was living with his mother and sister in St. Albert, a city just west of Edmonton, at the time of his death.
According to Friesen, who had spoken with Mathers’ mother, Mathers and his sister worked out together “a lot.” Mathers, Friesen said, “was at the gym every day . . . he was in unbelievable shape.”
Friesen said that Mathers’ sister had purchased a new heart monitor and had given the old one to her brother for use during workouts.
“He had made a comment to his sister (Saturday) night . . . that his heart rate was irregular,” Friesen said. “He said he had to tone down his workouts because his heartrate was screwed up in some way.
“They didn’t think anything of it, (thinking) ‘he knows what he’s doing, he’s worked out his whole life.’
“That night, he didn’t get up. His family assumes it has something to do with his heartrate. His mother swears there wasn’t a pill in the house or a bottle . . . he wasn’t drinking.”
An autopsy was performed but results haven’t been released. Friesen said he was told “the autopsy showed nothing . . . the brain, heart, lungs, liver . . . everything was good. . . . Who knows?”
A group of former teammates, including Friesen, is planning to travel to St. Albert for Mathers’ funeral.
There will be a viewing on Sunday, 7-9 p.m., with a memorial service Monday at 3 p.m. Both are to be held at the St. Albert Funeral Home, which is located at 9 Muir Drive, on the corner of St. Vital Avenue and Highway No. 2.
gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca