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The story of Auston Mathews.
On September 17th, 1997 Auston Mathews was born to Brian and Ema Mathews in San Ramon, California . He came from an athletic family, in fact his Uncle Wes played in The National Football League while his Dad played College baseball. Auston most likely could have followed his Father's footsteps and been a baseball player but he was often late to baseball practice as he was " Too busy shooting pucks." At 2 months of age Auston moved to Scottsdale,Arizona where he first saw the Phoenix Coyotes as a 2 year old. Auston was inspired by the Phoenix Coyotes and Shane Doan but his favorite athlete was basketball player Kobe Bryant while his favorite movie was Disney's "The Mighty Ducks." Auston's mother is of Latino culture and he has 2 younger sisters. Auston is in constant contact with his family who often take the time to commute to games and no doubt keep him grounded. His mother once said " Auston amazes me all the time and I'm his mother!" One amazing fact, Auston was fascinated by the Zamboni machine and didn't express an interest in hockey until age 5. Auston's dad Brian even stated that Auston was better at baseball than hockey.
Auston didn't take the traditional development route bypassing the Canadian major junior leagues and going through the US National development team and then deciding to play with men,after missing the NHL draft cut off by a mere 2 days. At the age of 17 Auston signed to play in Switzerland for the ZSC Lions of National League A under former NHL Vancouver Canuck's coach Marc Crawford. When asked to compare Auston Mathews to someone, Crawford responded " Peter Forsberg." High praise indeed. In fact, in his second season with the US development team he scored 116 points breaking Stanley Cup champion Patrick Kane's record of 102 points. He also played with Jack Eichel for a time in the USNDT during the 2013/2014 season.
Auston Matthews has represented the United States in numerous tournaments including a U17 WHC gold medal, two U18 WJC gold medals, and two IIHF World U20 Championship appearances.
Prior to the 2016 NHL draft Auston had an impressive list of awards and honours.
https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/710794753675386951/
| Award | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| USHL | ||
| USHL Third All-Star Team | 2014–15 | |
| NLA | ||
| Swiss Ice Hockey Cup gold medal with the ZSC Lions | 2015–16 | |
| NLA Rising Star Award | 2015–16 | [16] |
| NLA Media All-Star Team | 2015–16 | |
| NLA Media Most Improved Player | 2015–16 | |
| NLA Youngster of the Year | 2015–16 | [21] |
| NHL | ||
| Rookie of the Month | December 2016 | [68] |
| NHL All-Star | 2017, 2018, 2019 | [26][69] |
| Calder Memorial Trophy | 2017 | [33] |
| NHL All-Rookie Team | 2017 | [70] |
| International | ||
| World U-17 Hockey Challenge gold medal | 2014 | |
| IIHF World U18 Championship gold medal | 2014 | |
| IIHF World U18 Championship gold medal | 2015 | |
| IIHF World U18 Championship Most Valuable Player | 2015 | [50] |
| IIHF World U18 Championship Media All-Star team | 2015 | [50] |
| IIHF World U18 Championship scoring leader | 2015 | |
| Bob Johnson Award | 2015 | [12] |
| IIHF World Junior Championship All-Star Team | 2016 | [71] |
When the Toronto Maple Leafs won the NHL draft lottery Auston had tough competition from Finnish winger Patrick Laine. When asked, Leaf president Brennan Shanahan said " We think we know who is the best player is.." Needless to say The Leafs took the 6 foot 3 inch, 223 pound Center first overall leaving no doubt as Patrick Laine went second overall to the Winnipeg Jets.
Auston may have had the biggest entry into the NHL of all time and set the bar very high for himself scoring 4 goals in his NHL debut against the Ottawa Senators and then going on to score 40 goals in his rookie year and winning the Calder Memorial trophy as the NHL's best rookie.
Auston does hold some records as per Wikipedia and even has a rap song named after him by rapper SVDVM.
Records[edit]
NHL[edit]
- Most goals scored in an NHL debut in the modern era (four goals), surpassing Alex Smart, Real Cloutier, Fabian Brunnström and Derek Stepan (three goals).[22]
- Most goals by an American-born rookie, surpassing Neal Broten who scored 38 goals in his rookie season with the Minnesota North Stars in the 1981–82 season
- Most consecutive games with a shot on goal to start a career. He ended his 103-game streak in a 4–1 victory over the Calgary Flames on November 28, 2017.[34]
- Youngest player (age 21) to record multiple points in each of his team's first five games of a season, surpassing Wayne Gretzky (age 22). [72]
Toronto Maple Leafs[edit]
- Fastest Maple Leafs player to score 25 goals (52 games), surpassed Howie Meeker (58 games in 1946–47).[73]
- Most points by a rookie (69), surpassed Peter Ihnačák, who had 66 in the 1982–83 season.[74]
- Most goals by a rookie (40), surpassed Wendel Clark, who had 34 in the 1985–86 season.[75]
- First (and only) Maple Leafs player to score at least 30 goals in the first three seasons of his career.[76]
Auston Mathew's career stats as per Wikipedia are:
Regular season and playoffs[edit]
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 2013–14 | U.S. National Development Team | USHL | 20 | 10 | 10 | 20 | 4 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2014–15 | U.S. National Development Team | USHL | 24 | 20 | 28 | 48 | 10 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2015–16 | ZSC Lions | NLA | 36 | 24 | 22 | 46 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 2 | ||
| 2016–17 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 82 | 40 | 29 | 69 | 14 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 0 | ||
| 2017–18 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 62 | 34 | 29 | 63 | 12 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | ||
| NHL totals | 144 | 74 | 58 | 132 | 26 | 13 | 5 | 2 | 7 | 0 | ||||
International[edit]
| Year | Team | Event | Result | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | United States | U17 |  | 6 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 8 | |
| 2014 | United States | WJC18 | | 7 | 5 | 2 | 7 | 4 | |
| 2015 | United States | WJC18 | | 7 | 8 | 7 | 15 | 0 | |
| 2015 | United States | WJC | 5th | 5 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| 2016 | United States | WJC |  | 7 | 7 | 4 | 11 | 2 | |
| 2016 | United States | WC | 4th | 10 | 6 | 3 | 9 | 2 | |
| 2016 | Team North America | WCH | 5th | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | |
| Junior totals | 32 | 25 | 19 | 44 | 18 | ||||
| Senior totals | 13 | 8 | 4 | 12 | 2 | ||||
On Febuary 5th 2019, Toronto Maple Leaf's General Manager Kyle Dubas signed Auston to a 5 year, $ 11.634 AAV Million dollar per year contract. The contract makes Auston the NHL's second highest paid player, only $900,000 behind Edmonton Oiler's star center Connor McDavid. The rumour is Auston was willing to sign for long term but at $14 Million per year. A tad high given what Connor McDavid is making and the Leafs upcoming signing of star winger Mitch Marner.
Auston says " I intend to play in Toronto for a long time." And Toronto Maple Leaf fans certainly hope he does as he is a major piece as Toronto tries to win it's first Stanley Cup since 1967.
After a tepid 1 goal 1 assist playoffs series last year against Boston in 7 games in which he played injured(shoulder), Mathews has adjusted to the playoff pressure in Toronto. He now has 3 goals in 4 games as the series now sits tied at 2 games a piece heading back to Boston.
Update Playoffs 2019. Auston had a good playoff while most of his teammates didn't. He scored 5 goals and 1 assist in 7 games versus the Boston Bruins and was one of the best Leaf players on the ice during that series.I still don't think Toronto has found the right wingers to play with Mathews and that they could better utilize him and make him more effective. Mathews is a sniper of epic proportions.Other teams would find him what he needs and so must the Toronto Maple Leafs if they want to ever win a cup again.Auston Mathews gets an "A" for this year's 2019 Stanley Cup playoffs and progressed very nicely indeed.
www.theleafswinthecup.com
After a tepid 1 goal 1 assist playoffs series last year against Boston in 7 games in which he played injured(shoulder), Mathews has adjusted to the playoff pressure in Toronto. He now has 3 goals in 4 games as the series now sits tied at 2 games a piece heading back to Boston.
Update Playoffs 2019. Auston had a good playoff while most of his teammates didn't. He scored 5 goals and 1 assist in 7 games versus the Boston Bruins and was one of the best Leaf players on the ice during that series.I still don't think Toronto has found the right wingers to play with Mathews and that they could better utilize him and make him more effective. Mathews is a sniper of epic proportions.Other teams would find him what he needs and so must the Toronto Maple Leafs if they want to ever win a cup again.Auston Mathews gets an "A" for this year's 2019 Stanley Cup playoffs and progressed very nicely indeed.
www.theleafswinthecup.com
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