If You Care About The World Championships, Auston Matthews Did Very Auston Matthews-Like Things
I’m not going to get up here and pretend like the World Championships mean anything to me. It’s easily the most forgotten about tournament every year and I feel like nobody would notice if they just stopped having these every year. Sure, it’s a great way to get some young prospects some more exposure but the fact that it coincides with the Stanley Cup Playoffs every year renders them irrelevant. I’m sure there are plenty of people out there who actually care about the tournament but I just can’t get myself into it.For as entertaining and exciting as the World Juniors are, the World Championships just seem like the opposite. With all that being said, Auston Matthews went out there today during the USA’s quarterfinals matchup with the Czechs and showed why he’ll be the #1 overall pick on June 23. There’s really only one way to describe that goal he scored to tie up the game and it’s conveniently printed on a tshirt.
He’s exactly what you’re looking for in a franchise center. He’s got size, he’s got speed and he’s hands for days. Puts his shoulder down, great on his edges and finds ways to put the puck in the back of the net. Fucking Toronto, man. I’d give my left nut to have Auston Matthews on my team and all they’ve had to do was suffer through years and years of disappointment. Lucky bastards. And Auston Matthews wasn’t done yet. Because after scoring the only US goal in regulation, he put the Czechs away in the shootout.
Quick hands, super deceptive, 18-years-old, it’s not fair. There’s only a couple of knocks that I can make on Matthews’ game right now and I think both of them are pretty fixable. 1) 34 is a dusty number. No idea if it holds any significant meaning to him or not but he needs to change that immediately once he gets to Toronto. 2) He doesn’t seem to tuck his sucks into the back of his skates. I tried to look of more photos of him throughout the past year to make sure this wasn’t a one-time thing and it appears to be a trend. Tough look to pull off considering this asshole rocks the same style.
Meanwhile, projected #2 pick in this upcoming draft Patrik Laine scored his 7th goal of the tournament today and yeah, he’s going to drive goalies in the NHL crazy with his release.
No big deal or anything. Just a kid out there shattering all sorts of World Championships records for U18 players.