Kukla's Korner Hockey

Kukla's Korner Hockey

Getting Auston Matthews Home

01/12/2022 at 2:49pm EST

from Craig Morgan of Go PHNX,

If you are from Toronto and you just read that headline, you either laughed out loud or you suffered a panic attack. Those are the endpoints on the Maple Leafs fan spectrum, a truth that I discovered all too well when I conducted the most innocuous of Q&As with Matthews 2½ years ago, only to have Leafs nation implode.

I heard it on talk shows, I heard it on podcasts and I read it in print. Those who weren’t busy trashing or dismissing the Coyotes franchise for its myriad missteps over the years were genuinely concerned that Matthews had only signed a five-year extension with the Leafs earlier that year because his goal was to come home and wear the jersey of the team for which he grew up rooting; the jersey that his idols Danny Brière and Shane Doan had worn.

For the fearful, all roads led back to the same place.

Matthews would win a Cup or two in Toronto and then realize that he had nothing left to prove so he would return to his home state.

Matthews would not win a Cup with the Leafs and become so sick of Toronto’s suffocating fan support and withering media coverage that he would jump ship for his quiet, happy place.

continued

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Paul Kukla founded Kukla’s Korner in 2005 and the site has since become the must-read site on the ‘net for all the latest happenings around the NHL.

From breaking news to in-depth stories around the league, KK Hockey is updated with fresh stories all day long and will bring you the latest news as quickly as possible.

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