Fan accuses Auston Matthews of disrespecting Canada

Prior to puck drop, however, a situation occurred that some have taken way out of context involving the league's leading goal scorer, Auston Matthews. The issue arose when Matthews had put his helmet back on and skated away from the blueline during the Canadian National Anthem. One fan in particular took this as a huge sign of disrespect from Matthews, who would never have done this during the U.S. National Anthem. As you can see in the video below, Matthews did, in fact, put his helmet back on and skate away well before the conclusion of the anthem.

While some may have watched this and taken offense, I'm sure most are of the same mindset that this is not a blatant act of disrespect from Matthews. He has routinely stated that Toronto is the best hockey market in the NHL and just recently signed a lucrative contract extension, committing the next 4 years of his NHL career to playing in Canada.

Did Matthews have a momentary lapse in judgement? Maybe, but skating off in the final few seconds of the anthem is hardly the war crime people are making it out to be.