Tribute Auston Matthews Discussion Thread II: Record Breaking Edition

[Stephen]

This. I still remember his first game and forgetting the 4 goals for a minute, I'm remembering him skating with the puck and evading checks while having defenders draped on his hip as he drives to the net. It was like Forsberg mixed with Jagr.

Now at the slightest sign of pressure he dumps the puck to a linemate and often times its quickly on the others team stick because his passing is only so-so.

What happened to him as a player? What happened to the one-timer he showed off last year? What happened to the curl and drag thru a defenders legs that went bar down?

Looks like he's gone Hollywood and with all the commercials he's shilling stuff he forgot he has to put in the work during the off-season. I guess being a multi-millionaire who's a pretty good player is good enough for him


Agreed, the $11.64m that will go to likely > $12.5m a summer from now can be used better on players who actually give a damn

Yeah. We used to remember he used to have the stop and start skating of a rookie Matthew Knies. Stops and starts, change of direction skating. Really hard work stuff. Straight lines and deception to create gaps. In Game 3 it was just fire drill wide loops and looking for breakouts. That’s not the same commitment and battling for every inch we’ve seen has nothing to do with injures to a wrist.

 

[leafsfan5]

We need the Matthews we saw versus Carolina earlier in the year

Take the ice over and show you're the best player on it

 

[IPS]

I have often watched in awe at MacKinnon flying through the neutral zone, attacking the blue line and daring defenders to try and stop him.

Not everyone can be MacKinnon of course, and very few have his acceleration and power in their legs, but his almost fearless attitude is scary to watch - I assume much more so for the d-man in front of him. That could be Matthews if he wanted to, instead he sticks to the outside as much as possible and looks to hand off to a winger on almost every zone entry.

And we have seen he can do it, just far too rarely. But man, when he attacks it's a sight. Where is that guy right now?

Cause Mackinnon is a born competitor. If Matthews had 60% of the compete level that Mack has he'd be McDavid level.

 

[sunstersun]

Giant L game

 

[Aashir]

This series is a legacy defining series for him. Next game is a legacy defining game for him

He has to get on the score sheet

 

[Skullz]

Had some really good looks, and didn't get much on it. I am not making excuses, but is it the wrist again? His shot looks off.

 

[ULF_55]

He's normally a better face-off guy than he's shown recently.

Injury prone?

 

[DarkKnight]

Had some really good looks, and didn't get much on it. I am not making excuses, but is it the wrist again? His shot looks off.

It’s in the middle of his chest and between the ears.

 

[leafsfan5]

game 5 is a legacy game for him

He needs to wake the f*** up, this is unacceptable

 

[ORRFForever]

At the risk of stating the obvious, if the Leafs are going to have any chance, they cannot do it without Matthews.

Marner helped win this game. Matthews needs to help win the next.

Win in Toronto, get to Game 6 and put the pressure on Florida at home.

 

[sunstersun]

Matthews is injured like every year.

 

[Gabriel426]

Need to snap out of whatever funk he is in, we need him to perform. If he shows up and be theman, nobody is stopping him and the Leafs.

 

[BertCorbeau]

Been snakebite when he has had chances but at the end of the day he has to find a way if the Leafs are to come close to a comeback.

That being said he's been quite strong defensively .. I also think Marner's struggles have made it more difficult on him

 

[Beanzy]

If it's his wrist again, they really need to look at moving him before his contract is up.

 

[WillyC]

Friday night is going to be Auston’s big game… we’re doing this.

 

[1specter]

He needs to score Friday and have a big performance, point blank. If you're the leader on offense then it's time to show it buddy.

 

[1specter]

If it's his wrist again, they really need to look at moving him before his contract is up.

It's a serious concern. His release looks noticeably slower and his shot is less accurate and missing that zip it used to have.

 

[pcruz]

Been snakebite when he has had chances but at the end of the day he has to find a way if the Leafs are to come close to a comeback.

That being said he's been quite strong defensively .. I also think Marner's struggles have made it more difficult on him

It's a serious concern. His release looks noticeably slower and his shot is less accurate and missing that zip it used to have.

The swarm of Panthers practically super-glued to him doesn't help.
Neither does Bob playing out of his mind.
Neither do the, what 3, posts so far?

He's been fantastic defensively, which last I checked, is an integral part of hockey.

That's the location of where he did his work today.

2 hits, 2 blocks and the offensive stuff was focused to the front of the net.
That's where you want your star players to be doing their thing - at the net.

 

[notdoneyet]

Been snakebite when he has had chances but at the end of the day he has to find a way if the Leafs are to come close to a comeback.

That being said he's been quite strong defensively .. I also think Marner's struggles have made it more difficult on him

Man what a reach even for you
You are actually trying to pin matthews shit performance on marner lol

The problem with matthews is he has no heart.

 

[IPS]

Man what a reach even for you
You are actually trying to pin matthews shit performance on marner lol

The problem with matthews is he has no heart.

There is no blaming anyone else - he was total dogshit tonight.

 

[DarkKnight]

There is no blaming anyone else - he was total dogshit tonight.

If everyone played like him tonight, the season is over. His words “do or die” game and he barely made a dent. Decent defensively though. On the plus side, he has to pot a couple at some point.

Man what a reach even for you
You are actually trying to pin matthews shit performance on marner lol

The problem with matthews is he has no heart.

It’s always something else, and then why can’t we pin Marner’s performances on HIM. Never seems to work that way.

As an aside, to be fair, Jarnkrok did nobody any favours either tonight on that line, offensively anyways.

 

[sunstersun]

Play Bunting on the LW with Matthews, IDC if it's Marner or Nylander.

 

[BertCorbeau]

Man what a reach even for you
You are actually trying to pin matthews shit performance on marner lol

The problem with matthews is he has no heart.

A reach even for me? What the f*** is with that shit?

Matthews’ needs to find a way to step up but Marner’s struggles as a key playmaker haven’t helped either. Matthews has struggled to adjust to asserting himself in his own to create those chances and will himself to score

 

[DarkKnight]

If you just focus on what he brought to the table last night, we’d be packing our bags today. In the only game that mattered, he once again underperformed. He was probably our fourth best center last night, in a game we are fighting for our lives. Amazing.

 

[Gary Nylund]

If you just focus on what he brought to the table last night, we’d be packing our bags today. In the only game that mattered, he once again underperformed. He was probably our fourth best center last night, in a game we are fighting for our lives. Amazing.

4th best my ass.