Matthews: ‘I regret any of my actions’
The swagger that Auston Matthews usually carries himself with was noticeably absent Wednesday morning, as the contrite young would-be captain addressed police allegations of disorderly conduct and disruptive behaviour last May in Scottsdale, Ariz.
After the morning skate at the Ford Performance Centre before playing the Canadiens at Scotiabank Arena, Matthews came out to a huge scrum of reporters, thanking them for hearing his 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 departed without taking questions. A pre-trial conference was scheduled in his hometown of Scottsdale on Wednesday, dealing with the charge, which stems from a report last May when several men tried to enter the car of a female security guard at a condominium. When she confronted them and they backed away, a man alleged to be Matthews pulled down his pants some distance from the vehicle, bent over and gripped his unexposed buttocks. Police have been looking at security video of a man walking away with his pants around his ankles.
While there is some question just when Leaf management became aware of the court action, general manager Kyle Dubas didn’t speak Wednesday, MARC DESROSIERS USA TODAY SPORTS while head coach Mike Babcock how much of a distraction this and a couple players said they could grow into. It was widely only found out Tuesday. anticipated the 22-year-old No.
“Obviously, you’re always 1 overall draft pick from 2016 disappointed,” Babcock said. “It’s would be named captain before the Maple Leafs, we really pride next Wednesday’s season opener yourself on doing things right; against Ottawa. on the ice, off the ice and treating “I don’t think it’s going to be,” people. Babcock insisted. “Anything that
“I went to (Matthews) this goes bad, what you do is take it morning and said, ‘Are you OK’? and get better as an organizaHe’s got enough with the rest of tion. We have a close family it, that’s what the coach is here inside, we’re going to look after for, for our players. I’m here to Auston and we’re going to look help them become better men, after our actions.” better people, better players.” The two players who did
The presence of so many speak Wednesday morning were news reporters with the usual both considered strong capglut of sportswriters indicates taincy candidates before the Scottsdale story broke, John Tavares and Morgan Rielly.
“We all know the quality teammate and person Auston is,” Tavares said. “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.”
Babcock has made Matthews an alternate captain in exhibition games, but Tavares, Rielly and Jake Muzzin will wear the ‘A’s this evening. Tavares did not see Matthews losing his leadership status, at least among his peers.
“It’s easy to cast judgment and want to make assumptions, but let the process carry out. Everything he’s shown since I’ve been here, the way he’s grown and the type of person he is, we have full belief in him and what he brings to our room.”
Tavares said Matthews didn’t address the team before Wednesday’s practice but spoke to many individually.
“He’s just trying to keep things as normal as can be.”
Rielly has been in the eye of this kind of media storm a couple of times, both linked with insensitive comments, one public, one alleged.
“It can be tough. When I went through something, you just try not to read about it. This doesn’t change things with his teammates. We talked this morning, obviously the issue is serious, but we know Auston. He’ll deal with it as it comes. He understands what the situation is. We’ll be there to support him.
“We feel very lucky to play in Toronto and very lucky to have the jobs that we do. We try not to take it for granted and try and treat people with respect and carry ourselves in a manner we can be proud of. Auston is no different. He’s been a leader since Day One when he walked in this room.”
Toronto had put together back-to-back 100-point seasons without a captain, operating smoothly with a system of three alternates with a veteran presence. That grew to include Rielly last year, with Matthews’s ascension anticipated in 2019-20. As recently as last week in Ottawa, when Matthews went up to Scott Sabourin after he’d run a couple of mates and checked the back of his sweater to mock his NHL credentials, people were complimenting his readiness to lead.