Auston Matthews not happy with reporter
After the National Hockey League was forced to suspend play due to the COVID-19 pandemic, meaningful games were finally back on Saturday evening as the league officially started it’s play-in round. The Toronto Maple Leafs didn’t play their first game though until Sunday night, losing to the Columbus Blue Jackets 2-0.
After the loss at Scotiabank Arena, a few players and coaches were summoned for a post-game press conference that was held virtually as the league does it’s best to protect those within the NHL bubble. While most of the talk was about the game that had just transpired, Maple Leafs’ assistant captain Auston Matthews took the opportunity to call out a reporter that he had an issue with.
The Toronto Sun’s Steve Simmons was the only reporter who identified that Auston Matthews had tested positive for COVID-19 when the club had announced that an unnamed player was positive for the virus in June. When it was Simmons’ turn to ask Matthews a question about the game on Sunday, the 22-year-old made sure he let the journalist know exactly what he thought about him and the article he published.
“First of all, it’s unfortunate I’m getting a question from you at this point, Steve. I just wanted to say that I didn’t appreciate the article you wrote about me a couple of months ago. I thought it was a bit unethical, to be honest,” Matthews said, before responding to Simmons’ question about the Blue Jackets’ defensive systems.
Matthews eventually would answer Simmons’ question, but it was quite clear that he was upset at the entire situation. Simmons would later Tweet his thoughts on the matter, suggesting. that he holds no hard feelings towards the American after his comments.
“For the record, I have no problem with what Auston Matthews said tonight. He’s not a journalist. He’s a pro athlete. If we weren’t in this COVID situation, I’m sure we would have had the conversation face to face long before this.”
Matthews was drafted first overall by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft and has spent the last four seasons with the club. He led the team in scoring this season with an impressive 47 goals after just 70 games of play.
Toronto finished eighth overall in the Eastern Conference, which is why they are taking on the ninth placed Columbus Blue Jackets in the NHL’s play-in round. Typically, only eight teams in each conference reach the postseason, but the league decided to alter the format this year after the pandemic hit. Teams that finished 5th-12th in each conference will meet in a best-of-five play-in round series to qualify for the playoffs outright.
Toronto were shut out by the Blue Jackets on Sunday evening in game one in the series, but the two teams will lock horns again in game two on Tuesday afternoon in Toronto. All Eastern Conference games will be played inside the NHL bubble at Scotiabank Arena, with no fans being allowed inside the bubble.
The Stanley Cup however, will be awarded in Edmonton where the winner of the Eastern Conference will have to travel to take on the winner of the Western Conference.
