TORONTO — Only one other hockey player in the past 106 years has accomplished what Auston Matthews did on Saturday in Toronto, and he’s the one hunting down the NHL’s all-time goals record.
Back-to-back hat tricks to start a season.
What a feat. What a night. What joy.
“It’s fun,” said a smiling Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe, whose very profession attempts to suck fun out of the sport.
Maple Leafs’ Matthews tucks in the backhand to complete absurd back-to-back hat-trick
Yet when your MVP gallops out of the gates healthy as a thoroughbred, aggressive as a Twitter troll, and snipes his way to a 246-goal pace in Week 1, it’s hard to not enjoy a front-row seat to the offensive eruption. (Even if October hockey is a brand unrefined.)
As the Toronto Maple Leafs converted the touchdown in a 7-4 romp over the visiting Minnesota Wild, a franchise known for its low-event outings and bruising defence, Scotiabank Arena’s faithful bucked their wallflower reputation and broke into round after raucous round of The Wave, 60 minutes of vengeance over the city that eliminated their beloved Blue Jays.
After saluting to a standing ovation, Matthews spotted a kid near the glass with a slick blue sequined vest. The boy was wearing a sombrero, holding a Mexican heritage sign, and wishing for a souvenir.
“I gave him the first-star stick,” Matthews says. “He had a nice little getup there and nice sign, so I’m glad I caught him.”
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At this rate, albeit an unsustainable one, no one will catch Matthews.
“He’s feeling it,” teammate Morgan Rielly said. “Whether it’s tips or the wraparound he had tonight or one-timers, shots from the flank, shots on the rush — he can do it all. It’s always been a massive strength.”
Indeed.
But Matthews’s all-around game has never appeared quite this fresh and fierce from jump, and, yes, that includes his four-goal debut.
“Beast mode” is how Toronto captain John Tavares puts it.
In addition to three beautiful, powerful goals, Matthews won most of his draws, registered a game-high four takeaways, blocked a shot, and threw three hits (only crash-and-banger Ryan Reaves threw more for the Leafs).
The engagement and impact levels are high with this one.
To think, the season Matthews scored 60 (2021-22), it took him a dozen games to score his sixth. He’s destroying his own pace.
“I would never question Auston’s motivation and work ethic and commitment,” Keefe said. “But I do think he’s come in refreshed and healthy, and he’s had a really good off-season.
“He’s focused on the big picture here. He’s looking to really drive our team. He knows his job is to score, but I really don’t think he cares how many goals he gets.”
‘He’s focused on the big picture’: Leafs’ Keefe on Matthews stellar start
Matthews became the first Maple Leaf to post consecutive hat tricks since Wendel Clark did so in 1994.
More impressive: Only four other players in NHL history have hung hatties in the first two games of the season: Alex Ovechkin (2017-18), Cy Denneny (1917-18), Joe Malone (1917-18), and Reg Noble (1917-18). (Man, the 2017-18 Rocket Richard Trophy race must’ve bit lit.)
Since Matthews entered the league in 2016, he leads all goal scorers with 305. Ovechkin — generally regarded as goal-scoring’s GOAT — has 297 over that same span, despite playing in 26 more games and firing 214 more shots.
Moreover, the defensively determined Matthews is a career plus-112; Ovechkin is minus-12 since Matthews joined.
“I think the work ethic’s been there both games,” Matthews said. “I want to play at the highest level that I can every night, so I’m not really thinking in the past.”
Matthews’ historic heater will be the focal point, but the Maple Leafs’ offence has shot to No. 1 in the league with a bullet.
William Nylander is dazzling at a $10-million clip (wink), Rielly and Tavares are catching cookies, linemate Mitch Marner is making dangerous moves, and newbie John Klingberg is driving offence from the back end.
New power-play coach Guy Boucher’s system has cashed in on four of seven opportunities, helping the recently acquired Tyler Bertuzzi get on the scoresheet Saturday. And the Leafs have struck twice in 6-on-5 situations, another Boucher assignment.
Even when the Leafs don’t score 5-on-4, they look fierce and have the opposition scrambling.
“It’s a mindset of attacking a little bit more,” said Nylander of Boucher’s tweaks. “Going to the net with the puck is a big thing.”
Adds Matthews: “I think we’re just kind of simplifying it, but in the right way. I think just attacking the net a little bit more and maybe not resetting the puck as much and just trying to attack seams, find the open space and get the puck to the net.”
How Guy Boucher has impacted Maple Leafs red-hot offence early in season
The offensive aggression is paying off early, padding the big guns’ stats and boosting their confidence.
A happy by-product of these shooting stars is that the Maple Leafs’ deficiencies — 4.5 goals against netminder Ilya Samsonov and the defence on average — have been relegated to footnote status. It’s early. There is plenty of time to refine for playoff-like hockey.
In the meantime, Matthews is feeling it. And watching all these goals is a blast.
Not a fun game for goalies.
Especially Minnesota goalies.
Fox’s Fast Five
• Asked both former Wild players Ryan Reaves and John Klingberg who on Minnesota’s roster surprised them during their time there. Their answer was identical: Matt Boldy.
“That Matt Boldy is a really good player. I didn’t know much about him when I came,” Reaves said. “When [Kirill] Kaprizov went down, he led the charge for that month. A young guy that obviously got paid accordingly for what he can do on the ice. Really good on his edges. Really good in the offensive zone.
“He can take games over.”
• Reaves, pre-game, to Minnesota reporters, on facing his former temmates: “Sometimes when you’re better friends with them, you want to lay them out a little more. Unfortunately for them, I became pretty good friends with all of them.”
Reaves, Period 1:
Maple Leafs’ Reaves drops gloves with Foligno after laying out Gaudreau
Matthews presented the Leafs’ player-of-the-game belt to Reaves post-game, then Reaves met Foligno in the hallway between dressing rooms to catch up and share some laughs.
Business never personal.
“Big hits, just kind of getting the momentum back on our side, and he’s not afraid to chuck ’em,” Matthews said of his new teammate. “It’s always awesome to see, and I imagine there’s gonna be a lot more of that throughout the season.”
• When Klingberg set up winking countryman Nylander for a one-timed power-play strike Wednesday, it turns out he was returning a favour.
Nylander had placed one on a platter for the defenceman during Team Sweden’s 2023 victory over rival Finland at the 2023 world championship:
• Rookie centre Fraser Minten had both his parents and his grandparents in the building for Toronto’s home opener Wednesday. Rookie Matthew Knies’ folks made the trip Saturday. But going to a Leafs game to witness your son’s big moments isn’t restricted to players.
The keen eye of Sam Irpak caught Brad’s father, Jim Treliving, on the glass to cheer on the GM’s first win in a new town:
“You never get tired of being proud of your kids,” Jim tweeted. “Lots of change this off-season. Now, excited for the entire Maple Leafs organization and fans. Go Leafs Go!”
• Your daily goal-song report: Because of objections to the lyrics of Kid Cudi’s “Pursuit of Happiness,” the club won’t be using the Steve Aoki remix as its goal song. Alas, Nick Alberga reports, it was for one night only.
The line “Driving drunk, I’m doin’ my thang” did not go over well.
On Saturday, game ops blasted the upbeat, lyric-free(!) “Düp Düp” by Germany’s Mickie Krause when the home team lit the lamp:
The San Jose Sharks also gave “Düp Düp” a trial run as their goal song seven years ago.
DETROIT (AP) — The Detroit Red Wings made another investment this week in a young standout, signing Moritz Seider to a seven-year contract worth nearly $60 million.
The Red Wings announced the move with the 23-year-old German defenseman on Thursday, three days after keeping 22-year-old forward Lucas Raymond with a $64.6 million, eight-year deal.
Detroit drafted Seider with the No. 6 pick overall eight years ago and he has proven to be a great pick. He has 134 career points, the most by a defenseman drafted in 2019.
He was the NHL’s only player to have at least 200 hits and block 200-plus shots last season, when he scored a career-high nine goals and had 42 points for the second straight year.
Seider won the Calder Trophy as the league’s top rookie in 2022 after he had a career-high 50 points.
Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman is banking on Seider, whose contract will count $8.55 million annually against the cap, and Raymond to turn a rebuilding team into a winner.
Detroit has failed to make the playoffs in eight straight seasons, the longest postseason drought in franchise history.
The Red Wings, who won four Stanley Cups from 1997 to 2008, have been reeling since their run of 25 straight postseasons ended in 2016.
Detroit was 41-32-9 last season and finished with a winning record for the first time since its last playoff appearance.
Yzerman re-signed Patrick Kane last summer and signed some free agents, including Vladimir Tarasenko to a two-year contract worth $9.5 million after he helped the Florida Panthers hoist the Cup.
Veterans Tyson Beukeboom and Karen Paquin will lead Canada at the WXV 1 women’s rugby tournament starting later this month in the Vancouver area.
WXV 1 includes the top three teams from the Women’s Six Nations (England, France and Ireland) and the top three teams from the Pacific Four Series (Canada, New Zealand, and the United States).
Third-ranked Canada faces No. 4 France, No. 7 Ireland and No. 1 England in the elite division of the three-tiered WXV tournament that runs Sept. 29 to Oct. 12 in Vancouver and Langley, B.C. No. 2 New Zealand and the eighth-ranked U.S. make up the six-team WVX 1 field.
“Our preparation time was short but efficient. This will be a strong team,” Canada coach Kevin Rouet said in a statement. “All the players have worked very hard for the last couple of weeks to prepare for WXV and we are excited for these next three matches and for the chance to play on home soil here in Vancouver against the best rugby teams in the world.
“France, Ireland and England will each challenge us in different ways but it’s another opportunity to test ourselves and another step in our journey to the Rugby World Cup next year.”
Beukeboom serves as captain in the injury absence of Sophie de Goede. The 33-year-old from Uxbridge, Ont., earned her Canadian-record 68th international cap in Canada’s first-ever victory over New Zealand in May at the Pacific Four Series.
Twenty three of the 30 Canadian players selected for WXV 1 were part of that Pacific Four Series squad.
Rouet’s roster includes the uncapped Asia Hogan-Rochester, Caroline Crossley and Rori Wood.
Hogan-Rochester and Crossley were part of the Canadian team that won rugby sevens silver at the Paris Olympics, along with WXV teammates Fancy Bermudez, Olivia Apps, Alysha Corrigan and Taylor Perry. Wood is a veteran of five seasons at UBC.
The 37-year-old Paquin, who has 38 caps for Canada including the 2014 Rugby World Cup, returns to the team for the first time since the 2021 World Cup.
Canada opens the tournament Sept. 29 against France at B.C. Place Stadium in Vancouver before facing Ireland on Oct. 5 at Willoughby Stadium at Langley Events Centre, and England on Oct. 12 at B.C. Place.
The second-tier WXV 2 and third-tier WXV 3 are slated to run Sept. 27 to Oct. 12, in South Africa and Dubai, respectively.
WXV 2 features Australia, Italy, Japan, Scotland, South Africa and Wales while WXV 3 is made up of Fiji, Hong Kong, Madagascar, the Netherlands, Samoa and Spain.
The tournament has 2025 World Cup qualification implications, although Canada, New Zealand and France, like host England, had already qualified by reaching the semifinals of the last tournament.
Ireland, South Africa, the U.S., Japan, Fiji and Brazil have also booked their ticket, with the final six berths going to the highest-finishing WXV teams who have not yet qualified through regional tournaments.
Canada’s Women’s Rugby Team WXV 1 Squad
Forwards
Alexandria Ellis, Ottawa, Stade Français Paris (France); Brittany Kassil, Guelph, Ont., Guelph Goats; Caroline Crossley, Victoria, Castaway Wanderers; Courtney Holtkamp, Rimbey, Alta., Red Deer Titans Rugby; DaLeaka Menin, Vulcan, Alta., Exeter Chiefs (England); Emily Tuttosi, Souris, Man., Exeter Chiefs (England); Fabiola Forteza, Quebec City, Stade Bordelais (France); Gabrielle Senft, Regina, Saracens (England); Gillian Boag, Calgary, Gloucester-Hartpury (England); Julia Omokhuale, Calgary, Leicester Tigers (England); Karen Paquin, Quebec City, Club de rugby de Quebec; Laetitia Royer, Loretteville, Que., ASM Romagnat (France); McKinley Hunt, King City, Ont., Saracens (England); Pamphinette Buisa, Gatineau, Que., Ottawa Irish; Rori Wood, Sooke, B.C., College Rifles RFC; Sara Cline, Edmonton, Leprechaun Tigers; Tyson Beukeboom, Uxbridge, Ont., Ealing Trailfinders (England);
Backs
Alexandra Tessier, Sainte-Clotilde-de-Horton, Que., Exeter Chiefs (England); Alysha Corrigan, Charlottetown, P.E.I., CRFC; Asia Hogan-Rochester, Toronto, Toronto Nomads; Claire Gallagher, Caledon, Ont., Leicester Tigers (England); Fancy Bermudez, Edmonton, Saracens (England); Julia Schell, Uxbridge, Ont., Ealing Trailfinders (England); Justine Pelletier, Rivière-du-Loup, Que, Stade Bordelais (France); Mahalia Robinson, Fulford, Que., Town of Mount Royal RFC; Olivia Apps, Lindsay, Ont., Lindsay RFC; Paige Farries, Red Deer, Alta., Saracens (England); Sara Kaljuvee, Ajax, Ont., Westshore RFC; Shoshanah Seumanutafa, White Rock, B.C., Counties Manukau (New Zealand); Taylor Perry, Oakville, Ont., Exeter Chiefs (England).
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 18, 2024.
PENTICTON, B.C. – Vancouver Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko says he’s been working his way back from a rare lower-body muscle injury since being sidelined in last season’s playoffs.
The 28-year-old all star says the rehabilitation process has been frustrating, but he has made good progress in recent weeks and is confident he’ll be able to return to playing.
He says he and his medical team have spent the last few months talking to specialists around the world, and have not found a single other hockey player who has dealt with the same injury.
Demko missed several weeks of the last season with a knee ailment and played just one game in Vancouver’s playoff run last spring before going down with the current injury.
He was not on the ice with his teammates as the Canucks started training camp in Penticton, B.C., on Thursday, but skated on his own before the sessions began.
Demko posted a 35-14-2 record with a .918 percentage, a 2.45 goals-against average and five shutouts for Vancouver last season.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
