MATTHEWS REGRETS BECOMING A ‘ DISTRACTION’
MAPLE LEAFS STAR ADDRESSES ALLEGATIONS IN HIS HOMETOWN
He’s on the cover of NHL video games, in numerous fashion spreads and his No. 34 is the most visible around the GTA and parts of Canada.
But would- be Toronto Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews spent less than a minute in front of a huge bank of TV cameras and reporters Wednesday morning, in damage control mode from charges of disorderly conduct and disruptive behaviour last May 26 in Scottsdale, Ariz.
In revelations that appeared to blindside his club from management to close teammates, the police in his hometown allege Matthews tried to enter the car of a female security guard who was doing paperwork at the player’s condominium at 2 a. m. When she interacted with the 22- year- old, who was with another group of young men whom she believed were intoxicated, the report said Matthews backed away, but from a distance, pulled down his pants, bent over in the director of the guard and gripped his unexposed buttocks.
The woman, Fayola Dothizee, had warned Matthews and friends that condo management would be alerted about the car incident, despite one unidentified male asking her not to do so. The police file added there was building security video of a man walking away with his pants around his ankles.
After Wednesday’s morning skate at the Ford Performance Centre, a contrite- sounding Matthews actually thanked the media for gathering before making a brief statement.
“It’s not something that I think any of us really wish we were talking about today. But unfortunately, it’s the situation we’re in. I regret any of my actions that would ever put a distraction on the team or distress any individual.
“I take a lot of pride in preparing myself for the season and representing the Toronto Maple Leafs as well as I can. Unfortunately, due to the situation, I’m afraid I can’t really make any other comments.”
He chose those words carefully, no mention of names with the matter still before the courts and departed without taking questions. A spokesperson at the Scottsdale courthouse confirmed there was a pretrial conference on Wednesday and a “continuance” was issued for an unspecified later date.
The court website lists the lawyer for Matthews as Larry Kazan, whose website includes a number of past high- profile clients such as Glen Campbell, Stephon Marbury, David Boston, Jason Kidd, Nikki Sixx, Terrell Suggs, Jason Richardson and Charles Barkley.
It was curious that general manager Kyle Dubas did not stand beside Matthews in support on Wednesday as he did with Morgan Rielly, who met the media last season while under NHL investigation for allegedly uttering a homophobic slur in a game (which he denied and the league cleared him). The politically correct Dubas had also done a joint press conference with newly signed Mitch Marner earlier this month in Newfoundland after the player and his family took some social media heat for the slow pace of contract negotiations.
Dubas was expected to be sitting beside Matthews next week in a long- awaited announcement about the Leaf captaincy, which is likely postponed indefinitely if not the ‘C’ given instead to Rielly or John Tavares.
Head coach Mike Babcock and a couple of players interviewed Wednesday said they only found out about the charge on Tuesday, even though some news outlets began leaking details in recent days and Matthews would have been fingerprinted by police in Scottsdale.
“Obviously, you’re always disappointed,” Babcock said. “It’s the Maple Leafs, we really pride ourself on doing things right; on the ice, off the ice and treating people.”
Babcock was asked if he confronted Matthews once the story came out.
“I went this morning and said ‘ are you OK?’ He’s got enough with the rest of it, that’s what the coach is here for. I’m here to help them become better men, better people, better players.”
The presence of so many news reporters with the usual glut of sportswriters indicates how much of a distraction this could possibly become. But plans to play Matthews on Wednesday night with a near- starting lineup against the Canadiens went ahead, although Rielly and Tavares were named alternate captains for the game along with Jake Muzzin.
“I don’t think it’s going to be ( a side show),” Babcock insisted. “Anything that goes bad, what you do is take it and get better as an organization. We have a close family inside, we’re going to look after Auston and we’re going to look after our actions.”
Tavares sounded as shocked as anyone.
“We all know the quality teammate and person Auston is. He’s represented this team extremely well. From what we know of Auston, how he carries himself, how he treats people every day, among our group, his involvement in the community, we think very highly of him. We’re focused on the ice, we’ll just let that ( legal) process carry itself out.”
Tavares said Matthews didn’t address the entire team Wednesday, but spoke to many players individually. Tavares didn’t see Matthews losing his leadership status, at least among his peers, for the present.
“It’s easy to cast judgment and want to make assumptions, but let the process carry out. He’s just trying to keep things as normal as can be.”
WE’LL JUST LET THAT (LEGAL) PROCESS CARRY ITSELF OUT.