If anyone knows the influence that Jennifer had on Matthew, it’s Jim Nyhuus, one of his former minor hockey coaches and close mentors who will be at the Islanders’ morning skate on Tuesday.
Nyhuus coached Schaefer when he was a 15-year-old playing for the Halton Hurricanes of the South Central Triple A U16 league in 2022-23. That season, he had 32 points (12 goals, 20 assists) in 25 regular-season games and 14 points (six goals, eight assists) in five playoff games. “Jimbo,” as Schaefer calls him, would go on to be a reliable and embraced member of Matthew’s support system when his mom was sick.
To this day, Matthew and Jimbo exchange weekly texts.
“At that time, when his mom was sick, I was always getting emotional with him about it, trying to stay strong,” Nyhuus recalled. “But he always had that strength.
“Right now, he is living up to his mother’s expectations of him, not as a hockey player, but as a human being, because he’s a better person than he is a hockey player, and that’s saying a lot.”
A person whose humanity, Nyhuus said, is a trait Jennifer exuded, as he found out firsthand.
On Aug. 25, 2023, Nyhuus, his wife, Baillie, and stepdaughter, Maddie, were driving back from dinner in Muskoka, Ontario, located about 120 miles north of Toronto, when their vehicle was slammed into by another driver.
“We all suffered serious injuries, but Baillie’s were the worst,” he recalled. “She sustained eight broken ribs, a collapsed lung, four fractures to her vertebrae, a massive concussion. … She still has a broken back.”
About three weeks later, with Baillie in intensive care and Jim and Maddie recovering at home, a gift basket with food and other items was dropped off at their door by Todd, Jennifer and Johnny Schaefer.
“You get emotional just thinking about it,” Nyhuus said, trying to hold back tears. “I mean, here’s Jennifer. At the time she’s dying. She’s got cancer. She’s going to die early the next year. And this family, not thinking about themselves, not thinking about woe is me, is there looking to help my family.”
He paused to collect himself.
“Such a humble family,” he said. “It’s no secret where Matthew gets it from.
“I can’t wait to see him.”
For this, Matthew’s NHL homecoming, there will be no shortage of supporters saying the same thing.
NHL.com independent correspondent Stefen Rosner contributed to this report
