Getting personal with Matt Oates May 12, 2002

Here´s another incentive for the Idaho Steelheads to win the Taylor Cup.

They might get to hear teammate Matt Oates play the guitar, and maybe even sing a song. They´d have joke fodder for months.

Oates, the 6-foot-3 center from Evanston, Ill., nicknamed the "Big Rig," began taking guitar lessons last summer. He got serious about it when he arrived in Boise for the Steelheads´ season.

He goes to the Old Boise Guitar Co. on Main Street once a week to take lessons from local musician Rebecca Scott.

"I really enjoy it," Oates said. "It´s a way to get away from the game a little bit."

He likes to hang out at Pengilly´s Saloon downtown on Mondays to watch locals, including Scott, perform.

His favorite major artist is the Canadian band Tragically Hip. But he finds other bands, like Bush, have more beginner-friendly songs.

The 29-year-old probably will retire at season´s end and then will have to fit the guitar into a normal work schedule.

"It´s just something I wish I would have done eight years ago when I first started playing (hockey)," Oates said, "because you do have some time on your hands."