Player Discussion Auston Matthews Discussion

[BraveCanadian]

There was a stat posted during the game 3 broadcast, JT was by far and away our best player when it came to puck battles won.

He is one of our only forwards, along with Knies and the fourth line that Keefe inexplicably broke up, that will consistently go to the boards. I have to give him that. It's just too bad he is so slow and not worth anything close to his contract.

 

[IPS]

There was a stat posted during the game 3 broadcast, JT was by far and away our best player when it came to puck battles won.

How the f*** do people still run defense for this guy.

Tavares has been a non-factor in almost every aspect possible in this series but we're supposed to forgive it because he's allegedly winning puck battles?

You don't even read much criticism about him anymore cause everyone's basically accepted at this point that he's a non-factor by default nowadays.

 

[BraveCanadian]

How the f*** do people still run defense for this guy.

Tavares has been a non-factor in almost every aspect possible in this series but we're supposed to forgive it because he's allegedly winning puck battles?

You don't even read much criticism about him anymore cause everyone's basically accepted at this point that he's a non-factor by default nowadays.

Just pointing out that Tavares has as many goals in this series as 3 time Richard winner Matthews so... we have many problems.

 

[IPS]

Just pointing out that Tavares has as many goals in this series as 3 time Richard winner Matthews so... we have many problems.

And he also makes $11M too.

What's going to piss me off is this pedestrian series from Matthews is going to be absolved cause of this mysterious illness, when in reality he needs to face the music too.

Believe me, I want the criticism to be hammered on everyone.

 

[keonsbitterness]

What the hell does he have...This season has easily been the weirdest for illness.

Leaf-itis.

 

[Stephen]

How the f*** do people still run defense for this guy.

Tavares has been a non-factor in almost every aspect possible in this series but we're supposed to forgive it because he's allegedly winning puck battles?

You don't even read much criticism about him anymore cause everyone's basically accepted at this point that he's a non-factor by default nowadays.

I’m a total non Tavares guy but he was really strong in Game 1 and 2. The way he battled when the hitting started, giving and taking body blows to make plays, dig for pucks and stand up to Bruins abuse was quite good. Since then he’s kind of deflated a bit but I’d say up until Game 2 he was looking more impactful than Matthews in that department.

 

[Stephen]

And he also makes $11M too.

What's going to piss me off is this pedestrian series from Matthews is going to be absolved cause of this mysterious illness, when in reality he needs to face the music too.

Believe me, I want the criticism to be hammered on everyone.

Matthews only really showed up in Game 2. Which follows the trend of these intermittently complete playoff efforts surrounded by a lot of mediocre games where he can’t find a clear advantage vs Dubois, Cirelli, Danault, Bennett, Barkov and Coyle. Yeah maybe health issues are a special factor this time. But when has he ever gone head to head vs another line and just dominated them in a series start to finish?

 

[Kazparov]

How bad is this norovirus? I have heard it is sweeping through Toronto .. Will Matty recover for game 5??????????????????????//

It's bad lol.

You're basically puking and shitting the same liquid out both ends.

 

[JT AM da real deal]

It's bad lol.

You're basically puking and shitting the same liquid out both ends.

Oh well we're f*cked then .. too much of this team is Matty

 

[Kazparov]

Oh well we're f*cked then .. too much of this team is Matty

Anecdotal but I worked in a retirement home about 20 years ago. A norovirus came through and killed like a dozen people in a week. It's a rough one.

 

[Stephen]

Based on what TSN Overdrive was saying it sounds like Matthews has an issue where he can’t skate. So an injury like that would make a lot more sense than a stomach bug. So this might confirm the videos the broadcast was showing where his leg bent in a weird way. Or was aggravated by one of those McAvoy takedowns.

 

[thewave]

Based on what TSN Overdrive was saying it sounds like Matthews has an issue where he can’t skate. So an injury like that would make a lot more sense than a stomach bug. So this might confirm the videos the broadcast was showing where his leg bent in a weird way. Or was aggravated by one of those McAvoy takedowns.

Probably paralyzed with shame.

 

[tmlms13]

This kind of sounds like something like early stages of Mono. You get instantly tired which would make sense he can't skate at all.

Or even something like covid given how many people have gotten sick.

 

[Clark4Ever]

This is by far the strangest post season I can recall regarding Leaf injuries. We still don't know for certain what's been happening with Nylander and now Matthews.

 

[Aashir Mallik]

Man this guy gets seemingly injured every post season

i bet this takes a lot of pressure off him from the media. “But he was injured”..didn’t stop draisaitl from going 3 ppg against Calgary and didn’t stop any others either

We need to wrap him in bubble wrap

 

[34]

Based on what TSN Overdrive was saying it sounds like Matthews has an issue where he can’t skate. So an injury like that would make a lot more sense than a stomach bug. So this might confirm the videos the broadcast was showing where his leg bent in a weird way. Or was aggravated by one of those McAvoy takedowns.

So in other words, he is done for the year and will not play game five. He may as well catch a flight back to Arizona tonight then. The Leafs are cooked.

 

[Confucius]

Man this guy gets seemingly injured every post season

i bet this takes a lot of pressure off him from the media. “But he was injured”..didn’t stop draisaitl from going 3 ppg against Calgary and didn’t stop any others either

We need to wrap him in bubble wrap

Almost all players are prone to flues, colds and whatever goes around. Their immune system is basically zip. Probably due to the physical exertion they use.

 

[Aashir Mallik]

Almost all players are prone to flues, colds and whatever goes around. Their immune system is basically zip. Probably due to the physical exertion they use.

I’ve been reading here and in the series thread that he has some sort of ankle injury so I was commenting on that .

In terms of sickness, I have to believe it’s dangerous enough for him to play otherwise he’d be in for our potential last game of the season. I don’t buy that he’s too scared to play

 

[Confucius]

I’ve been reading here and in the series thread that he has some sort of ankle injury so I was commenting on that .

In terms of sickness, I have to believe it’s dangerous enough for him to play otherwise he’d be in for our potential last game of the season. I don’t buy that he’s too scared to play

I certainly never stated he was too scared to play, lol. He’s sick as far as I know.

 

[Aashir Mallik]

I certainly never stated he was too scared to play, lol. He’s sick as far as I know.

No lol I thought it the other way around where that’s what you thought I was saying about him.

I think I confused myself lol

 

[BrannigansLaw]

Unless he has a serious condition, I’ve lost a lot of respect for this guy for not showing up in the 3rd period.

The optics of sitting out when the game looked out of reach are really, really bad. Like REALLY bad.

 

[Kazparov]

Unless he has a serious condition, I’ve lost a lot of respect for this guy for not showing up in the 3rd period.

The optics of sitting out when the game looked out of reach are really, really bad. Like REALLY bad.

I think he f***ed up his ankle. Trying to find a replay

 

[BrannigansLaw]

I think he f***ed up his ankle. Trying to find a replay

Who knows honestly. We’re hearing all sorts of things right now.

I know what replay you’re talking about though. It could be that but none of us can verify.

 

[Sypher04]

Unless he has a serious condition, I’ve lost a lot of respect for this guy for not showing up in the 3rd period.

The optics of sitting out when the game looked out of reach are really, really bad. Like REALLY bad.

He was pulled by the doctors.
And if he couldn’t play he wasn’t helping

 

[BrannigansLaw]

He was pulled by the doctors.
And if he couldn’t play he wasn’t helping

He certainly looked like he was done during that Pastrnak goal. I don’t doubt he’s sick/injured but I’m disappointed by the lack of battle. Countless examples of guys fighting through injuries in the playoffs.

If he was pulled by team doctors for something legit, that’s a different story. Just appears so awful given the situation.