Player Discussion Auston Matthews (Captain Edition)

[Zybalto]

Makar's read on the play and that rim around was excellent. Sent that whole defensive coverage into a mad scramble and opened up the entire slot.

Hockey IQ off the charts from all three there combined with elite execution.

 

[kevsh]

People do realize McDavid shot the puck on net right?

View attachment 980824

The rebound went around out to Makar.

Who shot it around and marner picked it up and history.

It wasn't a face-off set play.

I'm not sure what part of it was set up but Marner went immediately into the corner and Makar didn't even have to look before he threw it around to him.

To me it looked very much like a set play but I agree that it may not have been planned specifically around winning a faceoff.

 

[pdson]

Sadly, now we have to from relying on guys that play with heart and soul to relying on a guy who plays with stick and puck.

Sadly we still have to read more of your bullshit made up nonsense

 

[Stephen]

Hockey IQ off the charts from all three there combined with elite execution.

Yep. The speed of the puck movement was great. When the Leafs struggle on the PP, they really don't move it around like that.

 

[notDatsyuk]

Maybe Matty saw Mitch was getting the puck and eluded McDavid to get himself open. Oops - wrong team?

 

[Roo]

If ifs and buts were candy and nuts we'd all have a Merry Christmas.

If my aunt had cajones she would be my uncle.

There’s no “ifs” in sports. You either get it done or you don’t. McDavid got it done ant the end of the day and Matthews didn’t. Pure and simple.

Yes, this is how the media and fans think, but not the pros - and for good reason. Teams win, or Teams don’t get it done. Not individual players.

 

[Leafsfan74]

Maybe Matty saw Mitch was getting the puck and eluded McDavid to get himself open. Oops - wrong team?

Naw, it's a split second system coverage decision and if Matthews gets that puck, it is going the other way fast.

I can't relate to what Matthews is feeling but I Iost in wrestling in a couple of finals (most I won thankfully), including one grueling televised match I lost by a single point (to my training partner) in front of a loud cheering crowd. I get the feeling of believing fully in an outcome and then the deflation afterwards.

The best outcome for him, the team and his legacy, will be for him to be motivated by this. I can see in his face he is drained, it's too fresh still. Once his energy returns and his spirit is lifted, focus on redemption for the rest of the year. It's a team game and he did way more than his part. If McAvoy and Thachuk hadn;t been injured, if they didn't pull Connor, who knows if the outcome is the same? Billington stole it in OT, that's for sure.

If he raises a Cup it would be huge for him and America, I can't think of any Cup winner captained by an American except maybe Hatcher years ago. Imagine being an American captain of the biggest hockey team in the world and lifting a Cup after 58 years?! That would be HUGE for his confidence and his HOF ballot would already be filled in. Going into the olympics next year, winning a Cup should drive him with a single minded obsession.

I remember staying up to 3 in the morning or whenever it was to watch Canada lose to the Czechs in the '98 Olympics. Gretzky didn't even take a shot in the shootout and they were goalied by Hasek (goalies are sort of important). The video of Gretzky in near tears alone on the bench, never to win an olympic Gold.

Matthews should focus on trying to win a Cup and then try and parlay that into an Olympic Gold medal in a year. We all know if Canada isn't in the Finals that we would all be rooting for Matthews to win it.

 

[notDatsyuk]

Naw, it's a split second system coverage decision and if Matthews gets that puck, it is going the other way fast.

I can't relate to what Matthews is feeling but I Iost in wrestling in a couple of finals (most I won thankfully), including one grueling televised match I lost by a single point (to my training partner) in front of a loud cheering crowd. I get the feeling of believing fully in an outcome and then the deflation afterwards.

The best outcome for him, the team and his legacy, will be for him to be motivated by this. I can see in his face he is drained, it's too fresh still. Once his energy returns and his spirit is lifted, focus on redemption for the rest of the year. It's a team game and he did way more than his part.

If he raises a Cup it would be huge for him and America, I can't think of any Cup winner captained by an American except maybe Hatcher years ago. Imagine being an American captain of the biggest hockey team in the world and lifting a Cup after 58 years?! That would be HUGE for his confidence and his HOF ballot would already be filled in. Going into the olympics next year, winning a Cup should drive him with a single minded obsession.

I remember staying up to 3 in the morning or whenever it was to watch Canada lose to the Czechs in the '98 Olympics. Gretzky didn't even take a shot in the shootout and they were goalied by Hasek (goalies are sort of important). The video of Gretzky in near tears alone on the bench, never to win an olympic Gold.

Matthews should focus on trying to win a Cup and then try and parlay that into an Olympic Gold medal in a year. We all know if Canada isn't in the Finals that we would all be rooting for Matthews to win it.

Did you really think I was serious?

Just having a little fun with how those two look for each other.

 

[Stephen]

Naw, it's a split second system coverage decision and if Matthews gets that puck, it is going the other way fast.

I can't relate to what Matthews is feeling but I Iost in wrestling in a couple of finals (most I won thankfully), including one grueling televised match I lost by a single point (to my training partner) in front of a loud cheering crowd. I get the feeling of believing fully in an outcome and then the deflation afterwards.

The best outcome for him, the team and his legacy, will be for him to be motivated by this. I can see in his face he is drained, it's too fresh still. Once his energy returns and his spirit is lifted, focus on redemption for the rest of the year. It's a team game and he did way more than his part. If McAvoy and Thachuk hadn;t been injured, if they didn't pull Connor, who knows if the outcome is the same? Billington stole it in OT, that's for sure.

If he raises a Cup it would be huge for him and America, I can't think of any Cup winner captained by an American except maybe Hatcher years ago. Imagine being an American captain of the biggest hockey team in the world and lifting a Cup after 58 years?! That would be HUGE for his confidence and his HOF ballot would already be filled in. Going into the olympics next year, winning a Cup should drive him with a single minded obsession.

I remember staying up to 3 in the morning or whenever it was to watch Canada lose to the Czechs in the '98 Olympics. Gretzky didn't even take a shot in the shootout and they were goalied by Hasek (goalies are sort of important). The video of Gretzky in near tears alone on the bench, never to win an olympic Gold.

Matthews should focus on trying to win a Cup and then try and parlay that into an Olympic Gold medal in a year. We all know if Canada isn't in the Finals that we would all be rooting for Matthews to win it.

Yeah, he needs to channel his disappointment and past failures a la Mackinnon when he said "I've been in the league for X years and have won jack shit." Need to take that desperation and hatred for losing to get over the hump in those big moments.

 

[Stephen]

Also ties Darryl Sittler for 2nd all-time in Leafs scoring, but doesn't seem like big news:

Matthews ties Sittler for 2nd on Maple Leafs goal list in win against Hurricanes | NHL.com

Holmberg has 3 points, Steeves scores 1st in NHL for Toronto

www.nhl.com

 

[BraveCanadian]

Yeah, he needs to channel his disappointment and past failures a la Mackinnon when he said "I've been in the league for X years and have won jack shit." Need to take that desperation and hatred for losing to get over the hump in those big moments.

I don’t really know him, obviously, but does Matthew$ strike anyone as the type to turn it up a full notch like that for an extended period of time? When the going gets tough?

 

[Stephen]

I don’t really know him, obviously, but does Matthew$ strike anyone as the type to turn it up a full notch like that for an extended period of time? When the going gets tough?

Past performance would suggest Matthews doesn’t really know what it takes to win or have it in him to win or some combination of that plus team circumstances beyond his control. But as a Leafs and Matthews fan you have to hope the losing and doubting inspires him to grow as a front line player who wins. That’s all we have to go on.

 

[Ports]

When you say "used to be" you mean last season when he had 69 right?
But no doubt his inability to score in big games continues to haunt him.

Last night though he and Brady were by far America's best forwards and Matthews easily had the most high-danger chances. I'll take a guy that at least puts himself in a position to score any day over the guys who were invisible all night.

To me, Matthews and Marner both looked great at times in this tournament and they were two of the best players in the biggest game. The skeptic in me says I don't think it'll matter come this post-season for many reasons, but it's never a bad thing to see our stars play well on a big stage.

Matthews would never be 0 for 4 on the chances he had in that final game. Whatever his injury is, he doesn’t put the puck where no goalie can stop it or shoot it as quickly as before. I remember when prime Carrie Price didn’t even move before the puck was by him. He’s learned to score in different ways but he’s definitely not the sniper he was.

 

[ORRFForever]

I can't relate to what Matthews is feeling but I Iost in wrestling in a couple of finals (most I won thankfully), including one grueling televised match I lost by a single point (to my training partner) in front of a loud cheering crowd.

He has 1 goal, an empty netter, in his last 12 games. Not sure what could be wrong but we need last year's Matthews for the playoffs.

 

[Sypher04]

Past performance would suggest Matthews doesn’t really know what it takes to win or have it in him to win or some combination of that plus team circumstances beyond his control. But as a Leafs and Matthews fan you have to hope the losing and doubting inspires him to grow as a front line player who wins. That’s all we have to go on.

I think he knows fine what it takes personally, but imo in a social media world the margins are just razor thin between being the hero and having people criticize you.

In the finals, Matthews setup both US goals in regulation and up until McDavid scored to win the game he was easily the best player in the OT period for either team, he just couldn’t convert, which is a running problem we’ve seen all year which must be related in some way to the injury he’s been playing through. If he’s able to put one of his multiple individual chances into the net, or Tkachuk buries his shot from the right side of the net that Matthews setup, then suddenly the narrative completely changes, even though Matthews didn’t play any differently.

 

[Sypher04]

He has 1 goal, an empty netter, in his last 12 games. Not sure what could be wrong but we need last year's Matthews for the playoffs.

Yeah it’s pretty clear his injury this season has been significantly effecting his goalscoring ability. He’s not even shooting in most areas he would usually shoot. There were another couple clear examples last night vs Chicago where he was open, with the puck, in the slot and he dished it off to Marner. That’s simply not Matthews game when healthy.

 

[Sypher04]

Matthews would never be 0 for 4 on the chances he had in that final game. Whatever his injury is, he doesn’t put the puck where no goalie can stop it or shoot it as quickly as before. I remember when prime Carrie Price didn’t even move before the puck was by him. He’s learned to score in different ways but he’s definitely not the sniper he was.

I presume you just mean this year, because he could absolutely bounce back next year if healthy

 

[IPS]

It is just absolutely fantastic the convenient little narrative that's been created around Matthews that every single time he under performs it can conveniently be attributed to some mysterious, pervading injury that's just always there and can always ruin his playing ability, just flares up out of nowhere!

Injured enough to be held out of the 4 nations? Nope! Injured enough to take a few games off after he 4 Nations? Nope! But god dangit it's injured enough to completely excuse him from not performing at $13.25M level!

This fanbase's ability to make excuses truly needs to be studied.

 

[Sypher04]

It is just absolutely fantastic the convenient little narrative that's been created around Matthews that every single time he under performs it can conveniently be attributed to some mysterious, pervading injury that's just always there and can always ruin his playing ability, just flares up out of nowhere!

Injured enough to be held out of the 4 nations? Nope! Injured enough to take a few games off after he 4 Nations? Nope! But god dangit it's injured enough to completely excuse him from not performing at $13.25M level!

This fanbase's ability to make excuses truly needs to be studied.

There’s absolutely nothing convenient about it. Anyone who’s paid any attention to the Leafs this year knows Matthews isn’t healthy, and it’s very very inconvenient. We very much could use his usual goalscoring ability. You can see how his play has been adjusted to mitigate for playing injured. Any insinuation that his current injury is just a flare up or came out of nowhere isn’t reality whatsoever.

Also Matthews played very well in the 4 Nations despite not scoring, so no excuses are even necessary.

 

[IPS]

There’s absolutely nothing convenient about it. Anyone who’s paid any attention to the Leafs this year knows Matthews isn’t healthy, and it’s very very inconvenient. But we could use his goalscoring. Any insinuation that his current injury is just a flare up or came out of nowhere isn’t reality.

Also Matthews played very well in the 4 Nations despite not scoring, so no excuses are even necessary.

..... but not injured enough to be pulled out of the 4 nations or even a game or 2 off when he gets back.

 

[Sypher04]

..... but not injured enough to be pulled out of the 4 nations or even a game or 2 off when he gets back.

You can keep trying to erroneously pass everything off as excuse making, but it seems pretty clear from what we do know that he probably requires surgery which they’ve elected not to do as I’m guessing it’d jeopardize his playoff availability. Resting him coming out of the 4 Nations isn’t going to suddenly make him healthy and they’ve obviously determined that he can play through it.

Also he didn’t play every game for the US at the 4 Nations.

 

[IPS]

You can keep trying to erroneously pass everything off as excuse making, but it seems pretty clear from what we do know that he probably requires surgery which they’ve elected not to do as I’m guessing it’d jeopardize his playoff availability. Resting him coming out of the 4 Nations isn’t going to suddenly make him healthy.

Also he didn’t play every game for the US at the 4 Nations.

Oh I see. So we're safer to assume that? Or safer to assume like last playoffs where Matthews just randomly misses time, no surgery or nothing, and the fanbase gets told absolutely nothing as to why he missed playoff games or what was going on with him.

"Also he didn’t play every game for the US at the 4 Nations." - You mean the nothing meaingless game that a whole bunch of players got pulled out of anyway???

 

[Sypher04]

Oh I see. So we're safer to assume that? Or safer to assume like last playoffs where Matthews just randomly misses time, no surgery or nothing, and the fanbase gets told absolutely nothing as to why he missed playoff games or what was going on with him.

"Also he didn’t play every game for the US at the 4 Nations." - You mean the nothing meaingless game that a whole bunch of players got pulled out of anyway???

I don’t know why fans think they are entitled to the details of player injuries beyond their expected availability

The fact some other players (mostly also injured ones) happened to be held out from the Sweden game as well doesn’t in any way change that Matthews was rested for the game and his injury was cited by media as why he was among them.

Also it’s very clear watching him play and the changes he’s made to mitigate for it that he’s nursing an injury. If you can’t see this, that’s on you.

 

[JT AM da real deal]

Gents his back injury he has had for many many years .. I first heard of it in an elite kids tournament 15 years ago when he missed an easy win game .. he knows exactly what to do once pain comes on and rest is clearly da best thing for it .. I am sure he reaches out to whoever/whatever legit doc is out there who can possible help him .. and this is entirely normal human behavior whether it is a Leaf doc or not .. hopefully for his sake, and ours, he finds out exactly what is going wrong and he can fix things .. but folks for those of us with back issues we all know once it comes on some of us can't even tie up our laces .. in my case after a few days of rest things loosen up and I am ok again .. GLG

 

[IPS]

I don’t know why fans think they are entitled to the details of player injuries beyond their expected availability

Yeah I know right?! Another disappointing 1st round loss but f*** those asshole fans for wanting to know why Matthews missed time in a series they very well could have won. All 31 other teams may do it, but not us!