Auston Matthews Receives One of the Most Flattering NHL Comparisons of All-Time from Patrick Kane
Photo credit: Sportsnet
Some very high praise for Auston Matthews is coming from future Hall-of-Famer Patrick Kane, who is comparing the Leafs sniper to one of the all-time hockey greats.
As one of the best goal scorers in the NHL, Auston Matthews gets a lot of flattering comparisons to previous players. This one may take the cake as future Hall-of-Famer Patrick Kane is comparing the Toronto Maple Leafs sniper to a Red Wings legend ahead of tonight's game between the Leafs and Detroit Red Wings.
The International Ice Hockey Federation is holding a ceremony this weekend to induct several names into the IIHF Hall of Fame. Perhaps the biggest name of them all is Pavel Datsyuk, known as the "Magic Man", due to his phenomenal skating and stick-handling abilities.
On Friday, current Red Wing Patrick Kane was asked who plays most like Datsyuk in today's NHL. Kane explained that it's a really hard comparison to make, but his pick is Auston Matthews of the Toronto Maple Leafs.
"I guess I could see Auston's game a little bit in his.
Maybe Auston's more of a shooter, but as far as playing both ends of the ice and being able to strip guys of the puck and turn it into offense, I think that's where they're pretty similar."
Maybe Auston's more of a shooter, but as far as playing both ends of the ice and being able to strip guys of the puck and turn it into offense, I think that's where they're pretty similar."
Matthews' teammate Morgan Reilly got to play against Pavel Datsyuk during his first couple of seasons in the NHL, and was asked what he remembers most about it as the Leafs get ready to take on Detroit tonight. He joked that the only thing he could think of was former Toronto head coach Randy Carlyle doing whatever he could to keep Reilly off the ice when Datsyuk was on it during his rookie season.
Head coach Craig Berube has already given an update on the status of Matthews for tonight's game against the Red Wings. Unfortunately, it is not good news.
Berube has also already established his goaltending order for back-to-back games tonight against the Red Wings, and tomorrow night versus the Montreal Canadiens. Stolarz gets the nod tonight with Woll drawing the Habs on Saturday.
| POLL | ||
NOVEMBRE 8 | 1246 ANSWERS Auston Matthews Receives One of the Most Flattering NHL Comparisons of All-Time from Patrick Kane What do you think of Patrick Kane comparing Auston Matthews to Pavel Datsyuk? | ||
| He's right | 570 | 45.7 % |
| He's wrong | 357 | 28.7 % |
| I'm not sure | 319 | 25.6 % |
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