America To The Rescue: The Toronto Maple Leafs Are Turning Things Around By Slapping The 'C' On Auston Matthews' Sweater
Claus Andersen. Getty Images.There are 7 NHL teams hailing from the Great White North. The Vancouver Canucks are captained by good ol' American boy Quinn Hughes, who was born in Orlando. The Ottawa Senators are captained by good ol' American lad Brady Tkachuk, who was born in Scottsdale and raised in St. Louis. While he technically considers himself to be Canadian, the Winnipeg Jets are captained by Adam Lowry who was born in St. Louis. Technically speaking, there are currently 2.5 captains of Canadian franchises who are American. And that number is about to jump up to 3.5 over the next 24 hours once the Toronto Maple Leafs officially name Auston Matthews their 26th captain in franchise history.
Auston Matthews. Just a kid born and raised on Coyotes hockey in the Arizona desert. The 1st overall in 2016. Rookie of the Year in 2017. A 1x Hart Trophy winner. A 3x Rocket Richard Trophy winner. And now he'll become the first American-born captain in Toronto Maple Leafs history.
Now obviously the dicey part about this situation is that in most cases when a team announces a new captain, it's because the previous captain is no longer with the team. Maybe they left in free agency, maybe they retired, something of those sorts. Meanwhile, John Tavares is entering the final year of his 7-year, $77million contract he signed in the summer of 2018. All thanks to sleeping in a pair of Maple Leafs footy pajamas.
It's not like this is the first time a team captain has been replaced while still being on the team. The San Jose Sharks went through 3 different captains at the same time with Patrick Marleau, Joe Thornton and Joe Pavelski. They made it to a Stanley Cup Final during that stretch, so clearly replacing a captain while they're still on the team doesn't mean that it's a total shitshow in the locker room. As long as John Tavares is on board with everything, then it shouldn't be much of an issue at all. But it's just great to see Canada's team finally admit to themselves that they need an American to be their savior. That without a kid born in a region of the world that can barely even produce snow, that franchise would be completely lost.
And now it's almost worth rooting for the Leafs to win a Cup with Papi wearing the C. The first time an NHL team from Canada wins the Cup since 1993 and it'll be an American who gets to hoist it over his head first. It would be glorious for a moment, until you remember all those dickhead Leafs fans being able to experience joy for the first time in most of their lives.