Auston Matthews

[herman]

Remember how a couple of years ago the Leafs were so bad that one time Kessel sniped yet another quick wrister and it turned into about 3 days of shot analysis?

Well, now the Leafs are so good that Matthews' first 'real' goal of the season (a GWG to boot) has spawned detailed breakdowns of his release, the subtlety of his fakes, and the unpredictability of his attack.

https://twitter.com/peteblackburn/status/917567564913442817

https://theathletic.com/123758/2017/10/10/mirtle-what-went-into-auston-matthews-game-breaking-ot-winner-against-the-blackhawks/

There's a lot that went into this play (Gardiner!), and the team sounds like they're more than happy to discuss the nuances that don't show up immediately in the game or even during the replays. JvR, in particular, is really great to hear from as his offensive insight is next level stuff.

Matthews has honed his repertoire to the point of highly consistent execution. His thinking is almost entirely devoted to executing his plan and adapting to minor changes.

In this case,
- Matthews showed pass with a stick/shoulder fake
- Forsling bit and went down for the passblock and stickcheck (pretty good play by him, actually)
- Matthews drew in tighter to pull the puck around the stick
- this prompted Forsberg to start dropping to cover the lower half and blocker side as that's usually a low rebound-inducing wrister move
- which led to Matthews abruptly changing his blade angle to roof one by the short-side ear hole just as Forsberg finished his right leg shuffle and started putting weight on his left to cover the rebound pass

I don't know how much of that was deliberate or instinctive (Matthews says he wasn't really thinking anything other than, hmm, I should shoot), but you can see his subtle fakes led to a gap opening (a low percentage one at that) and his execution took it the rest of the way.

Pam Poovey gif goes here.

 

[disco]

Remember how a couple of years ago the Leafs were so bad that one time Kessel sniped yet another quick wrister and it turned into about 3 days of shot analysis?

Well, now the Leafs are so good that Matthews' first 'real' goal of the season (a GWG to boot) has spawned detailed breakdowns of his release, the subtlety of his fakes, and the unpredictability of his attack.

https://twitter.com/peteblackburn/status/917567564913442817

https://theathletic.com/123758/2017/10/10/mirtle-what-went-into-auston-matthews-game-breaking-ot-winner-against-the-blackhawks/

There's a lot that went into this play (Gardiner!), and the team sounds like they're more than happy to discuss the nuances that don't show up immediately in the game or even during the replays. JvR, in particular, is really great to hear from as his offensive insight is next level stuff.

Matthews has honed his repertoire to the point of highly consistent execution. His thinking is almost entirely devoted to executing his plan and adapting to minor changes.

In this case,
- Matthews showed pass with a stick/shoulder fake
- Forsling bit and went down for the passblock and stickcheck (pretty good play by him, actually)
- Matthews drew in tighter to pull the puck around the stick
- this prompted Forsberg to start dropping to cover the lower half and blocker side as that's usually a low rebound-inducing wrister move
- which led to Matthews abruptly changing his blade angle to roof one by the short-side ear hole just as Forsberg finished his right leg shuffle and started putting weight on his left to cover the rebound pass

I don't know how much of that was deliberate or instinctive (Matthews says he wasn't really thinking anything other than, hmm, I should shoot), but you can see his subtle fakes led to a gap opening (a low percentage one at that) and his execution took it the rest of the way.

Pam Poovey gif goes here.

Damn solid anaylsis. The thought is probly 'immah shoot here' and he sets up his shot with muscle memory. Just awesome. Yet another big game moment created by the Awesome One we can look back on. Also, Auston is fresh of the bench here with Babs rolling four different pairs in O/T. At full power.

 

[disco]

https://twitter.com/BradyTrett/status/919346812409995264
https://twitter.com/MapleLeafs/status/919348709137305606

 

[disco]

https://twitter.com/TheFlintor/status/919383434027524096
If Auston's stick is a little lower on the disallowed goal this is the hatty

 

[AvroArrow]

Unless I did my math wrong, he's currently on pace for 82 goals and 131 points.

 

[hockeyfan1]

Unless I did my math wrong, he's currently on pace for 82 goals and 131 points.

Make no mistake.  You're right.

 

[Zee]

Not sure how CBC missed this with all their cameras and failed to mention it. Price falls down immediately before Matthews first goal. Explains why he looked so lost on the shot.

https://streamable.com/1ivpc

 

[Leafaholic99]

Not sure how CBC missed this with all their cameras and failed to mention it. Price falls down immediately before Matthews first goal. Explains why he looked so lost on the shot.

https://streamable.com/1ivpc

Because Price is Mr Saturday night, they can't make him look bad.

 

[dappleganger]

Not sure how CBC missed this with all their cameras and failed to mention it. Price falls down immediately before Matthews first goal. Explains why he looked so lost on the shot.

https://streamable.com/1ivpc

Nice find.

 

[disco]

Not sure how CBC missed this with all their cameras and failed to mention it. Price falls down immediately before Matthews first goal. Explains why he looked so lost on the shot.

https://streamable.com/1ivpc

Nice find.

Great find! Good on Auston for looking up, seeing Price's bodily profile and just shooting quickly.

 

[bustaheims]

I'm not advocating for Hyman in anyway but do we really think that Leivo's skating is capable of keeping up with Matthews and Nylander?

Sorry took me a while to get to this - was out of town - but, yeah, I do. I think the criticism of Leivo's skating is overstated. He's not as fast as Hyman, but it's not like he's unbearably slow, either. On rush chances, he'd probably be the 3rd guy in most of the time, but, so is Hyman. I think he's fast enough to get in on the forecheck effectively enough - and, really, I'm confident that Matthews does most of the heavy lifting in terms of knocking pucks loose, so Leivo would just have to not be out-muscled by the 2nd opposing player, and he's strong enough that it shouldn't be a problem.

 

[Bill_Berg]

Not sure how CBC missed this with all their cameras and failed to mention it. Price falls down immediately before Matthews first goal. Explains why he looked so lost on the shot.

https://streamable.com/1ivpc

Nice find.

Great find! Good on Auston for looking up, seeing Price's bodily profile and just shooting quickly.

Matthews actually said he didn't see Price slip. He was just shooting at the net.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

The 'Auston Matthews for Hart Trophy' conversations have started and I'm perfectly fine with that:

This is a kid who led the league in individual expected goals per hour a year ago, finished fifth in primary points per 60 at 5-on-5 despite drawing the best opponents other teams had to offer, attempted the 10th-most shots per 60 in the league last season, scored 40 goals, got the Leafs into the playoffs and generally pounded on the competition almost every time he was on the ice. As a rookie teenager playing his first season of high-level North American hockey.

And it looks like he took a step.

It?s not just the show-stopping goals (he already has a nice highlight reel going this season) and it?s not just the fact the Leafs are both scoring and preventing goals at unbelievable clips. It?s that, once again, Matthews is at the center of one of the most dominant lines in the league, and it?s even more dominant than it was last season.

https://sports.yahoo.com/learned-can-start-auston-matthews-mvp-conversation-131444883.html

Wysh talks about it too at his new stomping grounds:

Simply put, Matthews has been the most impressive player in the NHL through five games. His stats (5 goals, 3 assists) are identical to those of his rookie season, although four of those goals last season came on opening night. But what we're seeing from Matthews in 2017-18 is domination against tougher line matches, better play on the defensive end, clutch scoring with two overtime goals already and a general sense that magic can happen every time he touches the puck.

...

One of my Leafs fan friends was recently pondering if Matthews -- 20 years old, 87 games into his career -- is the best Toronto player of the last 40 years, ahead of Hall of Fame names Gilmour and Sundin and Sittler. Much like "plan the parade," it's a statement that normally would draw snorts and groans about Toronto exceptionalism -- the kind of thing you'd typically hear Don Cherry warble if Matthews was from Stouffville, Ontario, instead of the American desert.

http://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/21039942/nhl-biggest-surprises-far-season

 

[herman]

Matthews is currently on a PDO bender. His shooting percentage nearly 30% and that's (as amazing as he is) unsustainable.

What's great is that he's still generating ridiculously from dangerous areas (his linemates too).

 

[Redleaf]

Matthews is currently on a PDO bender. His shooting percentage nearly 30% and that's (as amazing as he is) unsustainable.

What's great is that he's still generating ridiculously from dangerous areas (his linemates too).

The people who put together that list of the 100 all-time best Maple Leaf players better regroup. It seems there was a rather important omission from that list.

 

[herman]

Really appreciated Wyshinski's Easter Egg shoutout to his buddy Marek.

 

[herman]

https://twitter.com/mirtle/status/919899097057783808
https://twitter.com/mirtle/status/919898271727763457

 

[herman]

https://theathletic.com/128830/2017/10/16/auston-matthews-makes-magic-by-reading-the-goalies-mind/

Some of it is luck, but a lot of it is just mad psych skills.

 

[Kin]

A very good article about Matthews and the NHL's problem with balancing hockey culture with marketing individual stars:

On a team that signed veterans in hopes of returning to the Eastern Conference playoffs, it's telling that the Leafs have not yet named a captain, dangling the C in front of Matthews like an inevitability. Even if he gets the title, the directive from management is simple: Matthews can speak but shouldn't be treated differently from anyone else. And so for the sake of Toronto's plan, imbued by well-worn tradition, the next great face of American hockey remains hidden above the border.

http://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/21007255/why-toronto-maple-leafs-auston-matthews-bigger-star-nhl

 

[ZBBM]

A very good article about Matthews and the NHL's problem with balancing hockey culture with marketing individual stars:

On a team that signed veterans in hopes of returning to the Eastern Conference playoffs, it's telling that the Leafs have not yet named a captain, dangling the C in front of Matthews like an inevitability. Even if he gets the title, the directive from management is simple: Matthews can speak but shouldn't be treated differently from anyone else. And so for the sake of Toronto's plan, imbued by well-worn tradition, the next great face of American hockey remains hidden above the border.

http://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/21007255/why-toronto-maple-leafs-auston-matthews-bigger-star-nhl

The whole premise of the article is that the NHL is failing because it's a "distant fourth" to the other 3 big sports here in the US.  Surely that matters to Bettman et al., but in the bigger scheme of things, so long as the league keeps generating enough new fans to remain stable, who cares?  The idea that you have to always be growing or else you are failing is simply nonsense.