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Maple Leafs' young guns Matthews, Rielly ready for World Cup challenge

Maple Leafs' young guns Matthews, Rielly ready for World Cup challenge

With the World Cup of Hockey on the horizon, Auston Matthews has made the permanent move from his family’s home in Arizona to Toronto in preparation for the upcoming season. 

Moving from home is nothing new for Matthews, who at 15 moved to Michigan to join the U.S. development program. Last year, Matthews moved to Switzerland where he scored 24 goals and 46 points in 36 games with the ZSC Lions. 

“It's obviously an adjustment,” said Matthews following an informal skate on Thursday in Toronto. “The guys here have been great, the staff, everybody's been first class in helping me around the city with whatever I need, just helping that adjustment be as smooth as possible. 

“I've been here throughout the summer a little bit, now I'm here for good. I have some time to get settled in, just start skating again, playing hockey, this is what I want to do so it's been good.” 

June and July were busy months for the 18-year-old. After leading the Americans in scoring with six goals and nine points at the world championship, Matthews was in Buffalo for the NHL scouting combine and then again for the draft. 

Auston Matthews has had a busy summer since being drafted first overall by the Leafs last June. (Getty)
Auston Matthews has had a busy summer since being drafted first overall by the Leafs last June. (Getty)

Following the draft, where the Leafs selected Matthews first overall, he was in Toronto for the team’s development camp.  The past month-and-a-half has allowed Matthews to return home and enjoy some down time.

“I was in Arizona for most of it, I came up here for a week to skate a little bit, work out here in Toronto,” Matthews said. “Then I went home, kind of cooled it down a little bit, get out, enjoy my time at home, spend some time with my family, work out, skate a couple times a week. 

“Obviously with the World Cup coming up, been turning it up the last couple of weeks, been getting prepared.” 

Matthews will be a part of Team North America for the upcoming World Cup of Hockey, which features a roster of players aged 23 years and younger from Canada and the United States.

The 6-foot-1, 210-pound center has played internationally with Team North American members such as Jack Eichel and Dylan Larkin previously, but there are a few NHLers Matthews is particularly looking forward to teaming up with.

“A lot of guys, just going up and down the roster,” he said. “Obviously guys (like) Connor McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon, Johnny Gaudreau, those guys are pretty exciting players to watch, their speed and skill, those are some of the guys I'm looking forward to (playing with).” 

Team Canada, Team USA, Team Europe, Sweden, Russia, Czech Republic and Finland will all be made up of predominantly veteran NHLers, something Matthews says benefits the young North American squad. 

“I think being the young guys there's not a lot of pressure on us, which is a positive thing. Just looking up and down the lineup, there's a lot of speed, a lot of skill so I definitely think we can surprise some teams,” he said. “I'm sure it is (easier playing without pressure). 

“It doesn't really matter, everybody just needs to go out, play hard and compete and get better every day. That's the mindset going into it.” 

Morgan Rielly is hoping Team North America faces off against Canada in the knockout round. (Getty)
Morgan Rielly is hoping Team North America faces off against Canada in the knockout round. (Getty)

Fellow Leafs player Morgan Rielly, who will man the blueline for Team North America, is hoping his team can do well enough in the preliminary round to earn a date with Mike Babcock and Team Canada in the knockout round.

“If that opportunity comes around, I'll love playing against Babs,” Rielly said. “I wouldn't mind beating him and playing against Team Canada will be pretty cool. I'm not sure what it's going to be (like), but regardless of what it feels like, I think it'll be very special.”

Rielly, a native of Vancouver, has represented Team Canada on several occasions and understands that regardless of the situation, there’s always pressure with international competition.

“I think whenever you do something like this, there's always pressure,” the 22-year-old said.  “Whether it's on a team or yourself as a player, I think that you've got to take it with the process. You've got to kind of embrace it and I think that when you're on a team like this, you've got to look forward to the pressure. 

“We're just going to go out there and play our game, we're just a group of young players, but we're not going to take it lightly and we don't expect to take it lightly. We're going to go in there and we're going to try to make a statement and try to win some hockey games.”

Team North America begins the tournament on Sept. 18 against Finland.

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