close
NHL

Homecoming King (Atlantic Division Notebook)

Claus Andersen/Getty Images

dsc_0435b – by Emna Achour
A Lot of Sports Talk hockey columnist

 
Raising Arizona

Where can you find miles and miles of sand dunes, hot desert climate almost all year long and the hometown of a hockey player so famous that he autographed the town’s oldest rink’s Zamboni the last time he was there?

Arizona, of course!

It’s well known now that young sensation and Cadler Trophy candidate Auston Matthews does not come from your typical hockey market. Exit neighborhood outdoor rinks of Montréal, frozen pounds of Ontario and friendly games in Russian back alleys.

Helloooo scorpions and cacti!

Matthews, the 19-year-old Toronto Maple Leafs forward and Scottsdale, Arizona native does admit that his childhood was not exactly the same as any hockey-addicted, good ol’ Canadian kid. But it wasn’t poles apart either.

“I was still waking up at six in the morning, but it was about 65 [Fahrenheit] and sunny outside,” Matthews told reporters after a practice last week. “I was walking outside in shorts and flip-flops. To me, it was just normal growing up there.”

Last Friday, Matthews returned to his roots to play against his childhood team, the Arizona Coyotes, for the first time as a visitor since he made it to the NHL this fall. It provided to his community the best in-advance Christmas gift they could have wished for.

Unfortunately, at least for some, the home-standing Coyotes lost to the Maple Leafs 4-1, but you could sense from the beginning of the night that not even a loss could spoil what turned out to be a magical night in the desert. It started right from the warm-ups, when Matthews was welcomed by a row of kids standing by the glass wearing Arizona Bobcats jerseys – Matthews minor hockey team – and holding a “Matthews is my Bobcat brother” sign.

Following that was an emotional opening face-off between Matthews and Coyotes captain Shane Doan, who’s been a true ambassador for hockey in Arizona over the past 20 years. So it seemed fitting then that this mythical game would end with one of the top players Matthews used to cheer for as a young Coyotes fan (Doan) scoring the lone goal for the home team, which also happened to be his 400th career goal in his 1500th career NHL game.

Matthews didn’t score that night, but finished with one assist and three shots on goal.

“We won,” Matthews said after the game. “That’s the most important part. That’s definitely what I’ll remember.”

“Coming home and playing where I grew up was a special moment, and to get the two points and the win kind of puts the cherry on top,” Matthews added.

The Cutest Photo in Hockey

A few months ago, when all of us were still waiting to see where exactly Matthews would land in the NHL Entry Draft, TV interviews and newspaper articles about the American phenomenon were abundant. Despite possibly getting annoyed by reading and watching all of the same stuff over and over again about the wunderkind, one pretty good thing did come out of this whirlwind.

This photo…

Photo courtesy of Matthews family.
Photo courtesy of Matthews family.

It’s so cute that it helped restore my faith in humanity. This photo is so adorable it could stop wars. This photo is so charming it could make Martin Brodeur and Sean Avery become best friends.

In the picture, a young Matthews is wearing an old-school Coyotes jersey alongside his sister and another one of his childhood heroes, former NHLer and Arizona (then Phoenix) forward Daniel Brière.

Playing on the same ice as Brière’s sons growing up, Matthews actually got to know the Gatineau, Quebec native.

“It’s just funny kind of looking back at pictures with him when I was six, seven years old and then just how fast the time’s flying by,” said Matthews.

“It makes me feel old!,” said Brière in reacting to the picture.

Even though it’s still early to speculate, it’s impossible not to see a parallel between what Matthews could do for hockey in the desert and what Wayne Gretzky did for the sport in California back when he was famously – or infamously, if you’re a Canadian – traded to the Los Angeles Kings in 1988. Nowadays, L.A. is becoming more and more of a birthplace for hockey talent and Matthews sees in Arizona the potential to one day be the same. Furthermore, Matthews alone has the potential to inspire the next generation of hockey players to lace up their skates in an unusual hockey market, just like the Great One did – long before Matthews was even born.

Facebook Comments Box

Leave a Response