‘He’s just going to get better’
Since his sensational NHL debut, Matthews continues to draw raves and turn heads
He was drafted first overall and ever since that night back in June, Auston Matthews has been Toronto’s star of the future.
But Sunday afternoon in the great outdoors of BMO Field, the story of the Maple Leafs rookie will spread even wider than it already has in this, a spectacular rookie season.
When the Leafs face the Red Wings in the Centennial Classic, more people will see Matthews play both live and on television than ever before as the game will air coast-to-coast in both Canada (Sportsnet) and the U.S. (NBC).
What Leafs fans and players are well aware of since his sensational NHL debut is a story that has spread around the hockey world. And with 12 goals in his past 16 games, the rapid development has been fascinating to watch unfold.
“He’s just going to get better,” Leafs coach Mike Babcock said on Saturday following a practice at BMO to prepare for the second outdoor game in franchise history. “He’s going to get quicker in the neutral zone. He’s going to play with more pace. He’s going to understand more. He’s just going to get better.
“In saying that, it doesn’t matter who you play him against and what situation you just play him. At the start, I looked after him a bit. I don’t look after him at all any more.”
In other words, just 35 games into his NHL career, Matthews is already the franchise centre the team has been seeking ever since Mats Sundin left town after the 2007-08 season.
The California-born, Arizona-raised teen has scored 18 times, putting him on pace for 42 over a full, 82-game season. That production has made him the first Leafs player in the modern era (since 1943-44) to score at least times 18 in the first 35 games of his career.
Along with the Winnipeg Jets’ Patrick Laine, Matthews has a shot at becoming the only teenage freshman to reach 40 goals in the salary cap era.
“He handles himself well,” said former Leafs defenceman Dave Ellett, now a youth hockey coach in Arizona. “Anyone who has been in Arizona youth hockey raves about his character and work ethic. And you guys are seeing that here already. He’ll be a leader, he’ll be a captain of this team.”
Sunday’s game is about more than Matthews of course, though he is the team scoring leader and most notable of nine rookies that have driven the team into playoff contention. Riding a season-high fourgame winning streak, the Leafs will attempt to leave the outdoor-game spectacle to the fans to ogle and focus on getting two more points against a struggling Red Wings opponent.
“We’ve got confidence,” Matthews said. “We’re almost at the midway point of the year and this group has come a long way. We still have a long way to go, but we want to continue on that momentum going forward. We’re feeling good about ourselves.”
Matthews is well aware of the audience reach of the Centennial Classic, but don’t expect the added exposure to faze him. This is a kid, remember, who scored four goals in his NHL debut and has dramatically improved defensively in just three months playing in the best pro hockey league in the world.
“It’s going to be a lot of people watching,” Matthews said. “The city is buzzing right now. We’ve got the world juniors going on now with this outdoor game, it’s definitely a fun time and a great atmosphere for us and a great experience.”
Though just the second outdoor game for the Leafs and fourth for the Wings. The two teams met each other at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor three years ago, a 3-2 shootout win for the Leafs.
The big stage is one thing — and it promises to be a good show in front of an expected crowd of 35,000 down by the lake shore. But after soaking up the atmosphere during a practice Saturday, the Leafs are ready to get back to business.
“Even keeled, stay on the rudder, let’s just keep getting better,” Babcock said. “You can see we have good young players and we’re going in the right direction.”
Thanks in a big way to the 19-yearold American who is fast-tracking a storied Canadian team back into competitive relevance.
“He’ll be a leader, he’ll be a captain of this team.” DAVE ELLETT FORMER LEAF DEFENCEMAN ON AUSTON MATTHEWS