The Toronto Maple Leafs will get back to normal business of the regular season of trying to climb back into the Eastern Conference playoff race on Wednesday in Florida, playing the Lightning and Panthers on consecutive nights, before returning home to play the Ottawa Senators on Saturday. The game will be the first at Scotiabank Arena in over a month (January 27th) and will undoubtedly acknowledge Leafs team captain Auston Matthews for taking home gold with Team USA at the Winter Olympics in Milano Cortina, Italy on Sunday.
Matthews finished tied for second in American team scoring, with seven points (3 Goals, 4 Assists) in six games, assisting on Matt Boldy’s first period goal and playing an excellent two-way game against a Canadian team that dominated the offensive chances and pace of play for most of the game.
After the game, Matthews teammates and heroes of Team USA, Quinn and Jack Hughes, came to the defense of their captain from the narrative floated in some hockey circles before the tournament that he should have not been named the US captain, and the same narrative amongst the fan base and media in Toronto that he is not a winner.
“Doesn’t matter what anyone says now Auston Matthews is a winner.” Jack Hughes said and his older brother Quinn followed up, “That’s what the media in Toronto should be talking about. Auston led us to a championship.”
The Hughes brothers have some knowledge of how things are in Toronto, as their father Jim served as an assistant coach with the Toronto Marlies for three seasons and the Leafs Director of Player Development from 2009 to 2015. Both Jack and Quinn played in the GTHL and OJHL before entering the US National Development Program, which undoubtedly help in their advancement as professionals.
After winning with Sweden at the Olympics in Torino in 2006, Hall of Famer Mats Sundin was greeted with applause upon returning to Toronto, but that was an instance when Canada disappointingly lost in the quarterfinals to Russia, with the Swedes beating Finland in the gold medal game. On Sunday, the Leafs had a watch party at Scotiabank Arena for the game, and after the overtime win, Matthews, on the video scoreboard adorned with an American flag, was booed. One would hope that the same Toronto fans that cheered for Sundin in 2006 and also cheered for him after he left as a free agent and returned as a Vancouver Canuck in 2009 would show the same class and acknowledge his feat. If they do not, it will be something to remember if down the line (Of course, it will be OK to boo Brady Tkachuk and Jake Sanderson, since they play for the Senators).
Matthews, along with the rest of Team USA, were diverted from New York to Miami because of the massive storm hitting the Northeast, and the entire team was invited by US President Donald Trump to attend the State of the Union address on Tuesday night and a ceremony at the White House on Wednesday, something that could make him unavailable for the Leafs first game back in action on Wednesday night in Tampa Bay.
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