The Toronto Maple Leafs have one of the best players in the NHL in Auston Matthews. That fact isn’t lost on his head coach Sheldon Keefe. In a recent interview, Coach Keefe spent some time speaking about Matthews.
His points are clear. Matthews is a great player. But it’s not just because of his play on the ice. It’s also because of his impact on the entire team – even when he’s not on the ice he has an impact on the flow of the game.
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Coach Keefe Talks about Matthews’ Impact on His Teammates
In the video below, Keefe talks about Matthews’ impact on the game. Sure he scores goals and produces offense. However, that’s not the whole of it.
Coach Keefe extends Matthews’ positive impact to even those teammates who take the ice when he’s off. He has the ability to make those teammates better as well, not just those he plays with at the same time on the ice.
How can that be? In the video below, Maple Leafs’ head coach Keefe shares his ideas about how Matthews (and Mitch Marner, as well) impact teammates in so many ways other than scoring.
Four Reasons Auston Matthews Impacts Teammates Positively
To summarize Keefe’s points, here are the following four reasons he believes that Matthews impacts his teammates positively.
Reason One: He makes his line-mates better by creating opportunities for them to score.
Reason Two: His on-ice performance creates momentum and energy that his teammates can feed off.
Reason Three: He influences the game even when he’s on the bench, positively impacting his teammates’ performance when they come over the boards.
Reason Four: He has the ability to change the game on the fly by creating positive situations for his team.
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A Summary of What Keefe Said About His Star Center
In the video interview, coach Keefe emphasizes the importance of any great player in a team sport like hockey. He shares his believe that players like Matthews not only make their linemates better; as well, they also impact the momentum of the game.
All this creates positive situations for his team. Explicitly, coach Keefe believes that Matthews impacts his team in multiple ways. That makes him a great player. It’s beyond goal scoring. It’s in every aspect of the game.
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Jon Harding
March 29, 2023 at 8:04 am
I agree wholeheartedly Matthews is great and makes his teammates better. I think most fans recognize this but it’s still a salient point and good reminder. I just hope we’re not looking back in 10 years commiserating about the Matthews glory days that resulted in limited success in the playoffs. I’m optimistic this season but will never let these guys off the hook until they prove something. I encourage all fans of the Leafs to scrutinize in a similarly tough but fair manner. After all, it’s an organization that hasn’t won a Stanley Cup, or even stepped into the ring as a participant in a Cup final, in 56 years.
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