MattyA

MattyA - GENS Name, age, occupation, location, system Matt Asbury, 54, Vice President of DASpecialists (a healthcare data management company) What hobbies or other interests do you have? In short: Family, Baseball, Music, and Hockey. The long answer is….I played baseball from the time I was 5 all the way through college. While in college I started playing with bands, so once I realized I did not have the potential for baseball after college, I jumped in a van and played bass guitar with multiple regional touring bands until my wife and I had quadruplets in 2009. Since 2009, I have played no music and gotten back into baseball by coaching youth baseball. We also had another baby, a singleton this time, in 2015. I generally spend every night watching the Atlanta Braves (Chop On, baby!) or other baseball games during baseball season IF I am not at the ball field myself. During hockey season, I watch all the Carolina Hurricanes games that are broadcast locally or the national broadcasts on NHL Network and TBS. When did you get introduced to the game NHL'94? How did it happen? MY roommate at the time and I bought the first NHL Hockey game for Sega Genesis in 1991, when it first came out. We graduated to NHLPA the next year and then to the holy grail, NHL 94 in 1993. But then, I moved on to NHL 95, NHL 96 and NHL 97 on Genesis before moving to a PS1 for NHL98. The release of NHL94 Rewind on NHL 21 (Xbox One) got me back into NHL 94. So, I drug my old Gens console out and started playing the old CART’s. When did you get introduced to nhl94.com and the online community? Were you playing between these two dates? (That is, between first becoming aware of game, and first becoming aware of nhl94.com.) I became aware of NHL94.com / nhl94online.com back in 2020. I must say that I kinda shied away from playing online once I saw some of you guys play (Kingraph, DanTML, snozoma & a few others) as I did not have the skills to even be in the same room with all you guy as I had not played 94, or any other 16-bit hockey, since 1998. But after a year and a half of playing 94 against the CPU, I wanted to play others-even if I get my ass kicked every time. What are a couple things that you love about the game? My favorite thing is that it is still a “game”. I play the current NHL series (21 being the most current) and they are like watching a TV broadcast. They are fun, but not the fun like when I was playing Genesis in the early-to-mid 90’s and would play for 48 hours straight on weekends and fall asleep at my desk on Mondays. Great times indeed…and feel this group offers the same possibilities! Are you a gamer in general? What other games do you play? Compared to most people, my kids included, no. I do play NHL 21 & MLB: The Show on a regular basis, but the time I spend playing the 16-bit NHL games on emulators and consoles has decreased my playing of even those 2 games to a slow trickle. Do you follow hockey in real life? Any other sports? Oh yes….BIG TIME!!! I only follow hockey and baseball. If you have been to a live tourney, what was it like meeting the real people behind the screen names? Any big surprises? Up until I found NHL94.com / nhl94online.com, I did not even know these live tourneys existed, so as of right now have not been to any. BUT that will change in the future! What is behind your screen name? (Origin story, if there is one.) As my name is Matt, I just took how all the TSN/NHL Network/ESPN personalities always called players like Doug Gilmour “Dougie” and ran with it. Favorite NHL94 player in game (and why)? Brian Bradley. I was living in Sarasota, FL when the first 4 16-bit Genesis games came out, so naturally when the Lightning started playing (1992-93 season), I bought season tickets that inaugural season. Bradley was our “star”, so when 94 came out and it included my beloved Lightning, I obviously gravitated to him. Fast forward almost 30 years and I live in NC and ama “huge Caniac”, I still have a love for Brian Bradley that will never be replicated!

I am looking to join the C division as well!