Maple Leafs' Matthews comes home to face Coyotes
GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Auston Matthews already got the first game against his boyhood team out of the way when he faced the Arizona Coyotes on Dec. 15 in Toronto. Now it's time to return home and let the budding Phoenix hockey market celebrate its most famous NHL product Friday at Gila River Arena.
"I'm really looking forward to it," Matthews said. "It's always pretty fun to play your hometown team from watching guys like Shane Doan growing up -- and obviously he's still playing -- so it's going to be pretty special to play against him."
Speaking of Doan, Arizona's captain plays his 1,500th game Friday and has been stuck on 399 goals for 10 contests.
By now, Matthews's backstory is well known in hockey circles. While he was born in Northern California, he was raised in Scottsdale, Ariz., where he played youth hockey for several organizations before joining the U.S. National Team Development Program and then playing pro hockey in Switzerland the final season before he was drafted first overall by the Maple Leafs in 2016.
While NHL players from non-traditional markets are still a rarity, Matthews' presence is viewed as validation for the NHL's Sunbelt experiment, and proof that it can work in markets such as Phoenix.
"There's lots of homegrown talent that will come out of here but nobody that has the potential Auston has," Coyotes coach Dave Tippett said. "It's a unique situation to get taken first overall in the draft to what many would call the hockey capitol of the world.
"I've been fortunate to get to know him a little bit through the World Cup and stuff. He's a very humble guy; very appreciative of all the experiences he's gotten playing hockey in Arizona. Now he's gone onto the big stage of the NHL and done very well. It speaks volumes for the people who have done so much work in developing hockey in Arizona."
Following Thursday's 6-0 victory over Colorado in Denver, Matthews has 16 goals and 25 points to tie him for second with teammate Mitch Marner among NHL rookies in points. Over his last 13 games, Matthews has 10 goals, including a spectacular effort off a one-handed defection on Monday against Anaheim that had coach Mike Babcock gushing.
"I thought he was great," Babcock told NHL.com. "I thought he was our best player. I don't know what you guys thought, but I thought he was fantastic."
Matthews' high-end production was somewhat expected when he entered the league. Apart from Edmonton's Connor McDavid, he is arguably the most highly touted draft pick since Patrick Kane (2007) and Sidney Crosby (2005).
What has impressed Doan the most, however, is how Matthews has handled the attention of playing in hockey mecca.
"He has such a maturity about him," said Doan, who knows Matthews through Arizona's youth hockey programs where Doan's sons, Josh and Carson, played or are playing. "So much credit goes to him and his dad and his advisers in telling him 'just be who you are.' He is, and that's what people love the most about him, and that's what makes him successful."
Since Matthews' parents, Brian and Ema live in Scottsdale, Matthews will stay home for the holidays after both teams' last games before the three-day Christmas break.
Backup Antoine Bibeau is expected to start in goal for Toronto while Mike Smith is expected to start for the Coyotes.
Center Brad Richardson (broken right tibia and fibula) and left wing Max Domi (hand) are out indefinitely for the Coyotes.
Center Tyler Bozak (lower body) and defenseman Martin Marincin (lower body) are out for the Maple Leafs, and right wing Ben Smith (hand) is on injured reserve.