How Auston Matthews is managing the disappointment of another interrupted season

If you hadn’t caught on to the cadence by now, the Toronto Maple Leafs are making select players and staff available to reporters every Tuesday and Thursday while the NHL season remains on pause due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Star sniper Auston Matthews was the latest to dish on his reality and the current situation at large, taking questions Thursday from his Arizona home.

Here’s what we gleaned:

How Matthews is spending his time

It became a little more crowded in Matthews’ condo two weeks into the mandated quarantine period. With no immediate end in sight, he invited one of his best friends on the team, netminder Frederik Andersen, down to Arizona to join him in isolation. The two have apparently been experimenting with the best possible trail mix combinations, and they have needed that fast fuel, because the two are doing their best to remain fit at a time where most professional athletes are limited to home workouts.

Unfortunately, the sports court Matthews says he’s having built isn’t ready, but he’s been able to strap on some roller skates and shoot pucks like he’s done in previous summers nonetheless.

And no, he hasn’t asked Andersen to stand in while he keeps his release sharp.

“I wouldn't do that,” he said.

However, he is forcing love-based reality television on his friend and teammate.

A huge fan of Love is Blind on Netflix, Matthews has recently pivoted to Love Island. He says Andersen can only stand a few episodes before choosing to do something else with his time, and Matthews can’t really blame him, because he can’t even describe the allure of these programs himself.

“It's pretty awful, but I can't turn back now.”

How he’s managing the disappointment of an interrupted season

In the chase for the Rocket Richard Trophy and in pursuit of Rick Vaive’s franchise goals mark, what was a career season for Matthews has suddenly become similar to those previous: frustratingly incomplete.

While acknowledging that there was some personal disappointment in addition to what each member of the Leafs is experiencing in a season where the expectations were so high, Matthews has been able to see the complete picture, and accept that his problems pale in comparison to threat on global health.

“It's bigger than sports, it's bigger than a lot of things,” Matthews said, explaining that individual accomplishments are irrelevant at a time when human lives are at risk.

While he’s scored at a comparably high rate in the previous two seasons, Matthews’ ability to remain healthy this season paved the way for an opportunity few Maple Leafs have ever had. He was just a single goal shy of the NHL lead in goals when the NHL shut down operations, trailing Alexander Ovechkin and David Pastrnak with 47 goals through 70 games.

Just to be in the middle of a race with a “generational” talent like Ovechkin has been “cool and humbling,” Matthews said, taking solace in his progress this year.

The job his coach has done

Matthews’ head coach, Sheldon Keefe, delivered the money quote from these conference calls to this point, stating Tuesday that instead of putting on Tiger King or soaring through the catalogue of Love is Blind episodes that he’s “binging on the Toronto Maple Leafs.”

The fact that Keefe hasn’t used the current situation as an excuse to shut down his brain every now and again didn’t come as a surprise to Matthews.

The new coach’s relentless work ethic, Matthews says, is what has stood out the most to him since he took over for Mike Babcock in late November.

“His commitment has been amazing,” he said, adding, “everyone has been receptive of him and he's be receptive to everyone else. That's all you can ask for.”

What hockey might look like without fans

Matthews wouldn’t necessarily subscribe to the any means necessary approach some leagues seem to be employing in an effort to re-start their businesses. He understands how important it is to remain diligent with physical distancing procedures to ensure that lives are prioritized above all else, and for now that will take precedence.

That said, he, like most players, are looking forward to returning to the ice as soon as possible.

If that is without fans in the seats, however, Matthews isn’t sure it will quite be the same.

“It would feel kind of weird,” he said. “I think fans are a huge part of the game, not only inside the arena. When you've got the playoffs going on, you've got Maple Leaf Square and the atmosphere shifts to another level.”

Beyond that, Matthews didn’t want to speculate much on when the league will return, and what it might look like if it does.

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