Auston Matthews (Captain Edition)

[thewave]

Oh come on man, you've been here too long for that. It hasn't been a season yet.

I'll go easy one and you're going to tell me that you hold he is a worse Captain than Dion, Captain Crowd Salute, already?

He'll need time to get there. And then we have to talk Rob Ramage.

It's an emotional take, I get it.

Ramage had some balls and so did Dion. Maybe not the best Captains, but also had really crappy teams and even with that, Dion had an inferior team with the MGK line and Kessel really stick it to Boston up until the end. That team would have hit some 2nd rounds just by sheer will if they kept it.

Outside that Matthews is awful as a Captain and I am a huge supporter of his too. He doesn't even come off like a man that gets angry or will get in someone's face which is essentially what a captain should be doing. If he grew a set of balls and shows it in the playoffs I will take it all back and eat humble pie. Outside that I would say to his face on the ice because I know he wouldnt even do anything. That's the sad part about him. Grow a set of balls Matthews, you're a winner IF your nutsack drops.

JT was also a lame duck captain. He did nothing of the sort as well. Maybe a few instances he kinda went in there. Cowardly prince as well.

Cowardice is the reason the Leafs don't progress. Then they want more Marner, just get me cheerleader on bench to look at, she will further team winning more in my eyes than another sweet n softie sucky baby. If Nylander wasn't a game breaker clutch performer he would be the next softie out.

 

[JT AM da real deal]

Matty and Woll and Tanev carried team last night .. and da ref too .. but we still got outskated .. but there is no team in east who skates like Avs ..none

 

[Madap]

Is he back?! I haven’t been able to watch the last two games unfortunately but hearing good things.

I don’t think it’s any exaggeration to say that this team will only go as far as he leads them so we really need some consistency with him.

 

[Jojalu]

Is he back?! I haven’t been able to watch the last two games unfortunately but hearing good things.

I don’t think it’s any exaggeration to say that this team will only go as far as he leads them so we really need some consistency with him.

Since Feb 1, Matthews is 3rd in the league in points with 23.

Mack and Drai tied for 1st with 25. Matthews seems to be back.

Nylander is 15th with 20 points.

Tavares and Marner tied for 50th with 15

 

[Tie Domi Esquire]

Crazy how he's playing well despite injury.

 

[Madap]

Since Feb 1, Matthews is 3rd in the league in points with 23.

Mack and Drai tied for 1st with 25. Matthews seems to be back.

Nylander is 15th with 20 points.

Tavares and Marner tied for 50th with 15

Yeah that’s true, but he needs to be aggressive and scoring though. Really can’t rely on anyone outside of Nylander to generate goals. Some extra assists is great but not what we need from him come playoff time as others will struggle to put the puck in the net.

 

[Leafsfan74]

The past two games I have seen maybe the most complete games by Matthews in his career. Yeah he started last year with back to back hattys but I didn't focus as much on the overall presence he had (when a guy scores at will it's difficult to see the other aspects of his game). The guy has been dominant on the puck the last two games.

At one point last night against the Avs when he broke in against the D and was barreling towards the goalie (I think he hit the post on this shot if I'm not mistaken), I couldn't help but remember images of Mario driving the net. Same wide stance to protect the puck with their size, same objective.

Sometimes a player will put the team on his shoulders. He will even voice it first which is very rare. Messier is legendary for this when he guaranteed the media there would be a game 7 against NJ in '94 and then went out and scored a hat trick (brag/flex, as a young man I won a big pool at work by choosing before the playoffs began that Rangers would meet Vancouver in the Finals and win in 7 games. That was a nice prize hehe). I'm a big believer in the psychology of competition and when a player has the assets AND the will to simply beat his opponents, he will do so if committed.

Matthews has been Bergeron in stretches but with so many more weapons and attributes. When he wants to carry his team he will and few players can stop it. His teammates see it, they see the C on his jersey and say "I've got to do the same, this is the standard". Last nights game was a prime example, the team just ground out a win against an insanely skilled forward group in Colorado.

 

[Stephen]

Looks like Auston Matthews has woken up since the Calgary game and been a lot more of his usual impactful self. This is a great sign but also indicates we can probably turn down some of the injury speculation as well. Hitting a higher gear and taking the team with him but the deal is this can’t stop.

 

[arso40]

Looks like Auston Matthews has woken up since the Calgary game and been a lot more of his usual impactful self. This is a great sign but also indicates we can probably turn down some of the injury speculation as well. Hitting a higher gear and taking the team with him but the deal is this can’t stop.

Doesn’t mean he isnt injured some days the body feels better than others

 

[notDatsyuk]

Since Feb 1, Matthews is 3rd in the league in points with 23.

Mack and Drai tied for 1st with 25. Matthews seems to be back.

Nylander is 15th with 20 points.

Tavares and Marner tied for 50th with 15

Nylander is actually tied for 11th.

ES shows a little differently, with Matty tied for 23rd with 13 and Willy tied for 30th with 12. (JT and Mitch at 104th).

PP Matty is tied for 3rd and Willy is tied for 12th (JT and Mitch at 22nd). Good thing the PP has started to click.

 

[Jojalu]

Nylander is actually tied for 11th.

ES shows a little differently, with Matty tied for 23rd with 13 and Willy tied for 30th with 12. (JT and Mitch at 104th).

PP Matty is tied for 3rd and Willy is tied for 12th (JT and Mitch at 22nd). Good thing the PP has started to click.

Up to 7th in the league.

Just carry that momentum into the playoffs for once and the Leafs should be fine.

 

[Puckstuff]

Matthews has 31 points at 5-on-5 this year. We need that Matthews-Marner duo to be better at 5 on 5.

 

[arso40]

Matthews has 31 points at 5-on-5 this year. We need that Matthews-Marner duo to be better at 5 on 5.

Need em split up flip the wingers or spread the offence Bérubé is a dinosaur stubborn as hell

 

[TheBeastCoast]

Need em split up flip the wingers or spread the offence Bérubé is a dinosaur stubborn as hell

Matthews needs Marner at this point. Last year Matthews was capable of driving a line with Domi and Knies. He isn't this year.

 

[BallardEra]

Matthews has 31 points at 5-on-5 this year. We need that Matthews-Marner duo to be better at 5 on 5.

Most of his goals recently seem to be coming on the PP as well.

 

[arso40]

Matthews needs Marner at this point. Last year Matthews was capable of driving a line with Domi and Knies. He isn't this year.

Wtf are you talking about he needs to get away from marner he definitely doesn’t need him lol you guys and your takes are something that line only looks good when Matthews is controlling the ice

 

[TheBeastCoast]

Wtf are you talking about he needs to get away from marner he definitely doesn’t need him lol you guys and your takes are something that line only looks good when Matthews is controlling the ice

Facts don't back this up.

 

[arso40]

Facts don't back this up.

How does it not?@antropovsky showed you the stats they’re clear as day

 

[Stephen]

Wtf are you talking about he needs to get away from marner he definitely doesn’t need him lol you guys and your takes are something that line only looks good when Matthews is controlling the ice

The biggest problem with Matthews is he doesn’t want to or isn’t capable of controlling the ice by playing relentless and commanding the puck. Is he healthy, is he banged up? Dunno. He’s not consistently assertive and when things are going poorly with Marner it’s because he’s deferring too much to play a weak finesse game and coasting along like a stealth sniper.

The other thing I saw online in an interview with Andi Petrillo and an analyst is Matthews shot speed has dropped from 77 mph to 67 mph. Not scoring enough from middle distance, hashmarks. Last year he had 22 goals. This year, 5.

This guy is having some major issues. Assertiveness and energy and health all mixed in. Marner is a part of the problem. Their partnership goes in up and down cycles. The more he defers to Marner to do all his work with the puck the worse he is and the worse the duo becomes.

 

[arso40]

The biggest problem with Matthews is he doesn’t want to or isn’t capable of controlling the ice by playing relentless and commanding the puck. Is he healthy, is he banged up? Dunno. He’s not consistently assertive and when things are going poorly with Marner it’s because he’s deferring too much to play a weak finesse game and coasting along like a stealth sniper.

The other thing I saw online in an interview with Andi Petrillo and an analyst is Matthews shot speed has dropped from 77 mph to 67 mph. Not scoring enough from middle distance, hashmarks. Last year he had 22 goals. This year, 5.

This guy is having some major issues. Assertiveness and energy and health all mixed in. Marner is a part of the problem. Their partnership goes in up and down cycles. The more he defers to Marner to do all his work with the puck the worse he is and the worse the duo becomes.

Jt is going nows the time to pair him with marner and Knies and put the other wingers with Matthews…..nylander and Tavares are scoring most the goals for this team we are a one line team most nights whether that’s the first or the second line that’s not good enough it’s not the right mix could also balance the top 9 too

 

[Stephen]

Jt is going nows the time to pair him with marner and Knies and put the other wingers with Matthews…..nylander and Tavares are scoring most the goals for this team we are a one line team most nights whether that’s the first or the second line that’s not good enough it’s not the right mix could also balance the top 9 too

At the end of the day, they’re probably not going make the corrections everyone is clamouring for and won’t figure it out when it matters. That SJ comeback and OTL is a microcosm of who they are. Not serious, too little too late when it matters.

 

[Jimmy Firecracker]

 

[notDatsyuk]

Jt is going nows the time to pair him with marner and Knies and put the other wingers with Matthews…..nylander and Tavares are scoring most the goals for this team we are a one line team most nights whether that’s the first or the second line that’s not good enough it’s not the right mix could also balance the top 9 too

I agree to an extent, but they finally have a LW who fits with them and the line is really clicking - is this the time to break up the only hot line?

The way Willy and Mitch are playing right now, switching Matty and JT will likely just have Matty get hot and JT cool off.

 

[arso40]

I agree to an extent, but they finally have a LW who fits with them and the line is really clicking - is this the line to break up the only hot line?

The way Willy and Mitch are playing right now, switching Matty and JT will likely just have Matty get hot and JT cool off.

Maybe not but he won’t flip marner and domi so what else is there ?