Auston Matthews Continues Bizarre New Pre-Game Ritual With Maple Leafs

The Toronto Maple Leafs are in action tonight against the Detroit Red Wings in what will be their 2nd-last pre-season contest before the regular season begins.

Hockey players are creatures of habit, and a common trend among players has them performing their own unique pre-game rituals either in the locker room or during warmups. In this sense, Auston Matthews is no different.

Earlier on this pre-season, Matthews began arranging pucks in the form of a smiley face on the face-off dot.

Some suggested that perhaps this was an ode to Mitch Marner, his good friend and former teammate, who is now with the Vegas Golden Knights.

However, when Matthews completed his pre-game ritual on Thursday, it was not a smiley face, but rather a "T" that Matthews had arranged, likely a nod to the city of Toronto.

It worked wonders for the former 1st overall pick, as he was able to convert on the power play early to give the Leafs a 1-0 lead over the Red Wings.

Matthews is coming into the 2025-26 season fully healthy, which is a great sign for the Maple Leafs and a problem for the rest of the NHL.

Matthews will undoubtedly face some challenges without an elite playmaker like Mitch Marner on his right flank, but there's no question that he is a special player and should still be among the league's goal scoring leaders once again in 2025-26, as long as he can remain healthier than what he was last season, suiting up in his 67 games.

Whether his new little pre-game ritual continues will be interesting to watch, and I'm sure people will be tracking all of his fun little designs if it does continue.