Leafs Captain Auston Matthews Publicly Admits That His Injury May Be Long-Term
Photo credit: Charles LeClaire / Imagn Images
Toronto Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews has publicly admitted that his injury may be a longer-term issue than originally thought.
On Wednesday morning, Leafs coach Craig Berube confirmed Matthews would not return to the lineup on Thursday, meaning he will miss his sixth straight game since re-aggravating his upper-body injury against the Buffalo Sabres.
Matthews, who missed 9 games in November, spoke to reporters for the first time since the injury on December 20th and revealed that he isn't sure if he will be 100-percent again this season.
"I don't know. I hope so," Matthews said. "That's obviously the goal. It's tricky with these things sometimes. It's a physical sport, it's a contact sport, so things happen out there sometimes that are out of your control. So I'm just trying to manage it as best as I can, and we can, and you just go from there. I'm not really somebody that likes to stay still for long, so I'm just trying to do what I can, maybe without overexerting certain things. I'm trying to just stay in as good shape as you can when you can't skate and stuff like that."
The 2016 first-overall pick also revealed that the cross-check from Buffalo Sabres defenseman Dennis Gilbert was part of what caused the re-aggravation, with Craig Berube confirming that Matthews not only re-aggravated his injury from November, but that something new also flared up.
In terms of a return date, Matthews was unsure, with Berube noting he would like to get him into at least one more practice, but prepares to play without him until he says he is ready.
"When you're injured as a player, everyone is always asking you, 'how are you feeling?' and it gets annoying," Berube said. "When he's available, he'll let us know. The situation we are in with him is I'm preparing the team to play without him and the lineup to go. We will know when he is ready, and we will make adjustments from there."
Given the fact that Matthews confirmed he likely won't be fully healthy until the off-season, fans have grown very concerned and are questioning why the Leafs aren't shutting him down for the season or at least until the playoffs.
With no practice scheduled until next week, Matthews may not even return until January 7th, which will mark almost three weeks since he last played.
When Matthews does return to the lineup, how the Leafs manage his ice time and game schedule will be something to keep an eye on as they attempt to keep him as healthy as possible for the playoffs.
| POLL | ||
JANVIER 1 | 3343 ANSWERS Leafs Captain Auston Matthews Publicly Admits That His Injury May Be Long-Term Should the Leafs shut down Auston Matthews until the playoffs? | ||
| Absolutely | 1660 | 49.7 % |
| If he wants to play, let him | 557 | 16.7 % |
| No, but they should LTIR him for awhile | 1126 | 33.7 % |
| List of polls | ||
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