3-time Stanley Cup winning coach Joel Quenneville makes a shocking claim about Auston Matthews
When it comes to Joel Quenneville, it's probably easy for some to dismiss his time behind an NHL bench and label that time tainted because of the fallout of being a part of that regime in Chicago that essentially had a hand in burying the Kyle Beach scandal. Still, for a guy who played over 800 games at the NHL level and who coached almost 1,800 games during his legendary coaching career and after three Stanley Cups, you can trust that he knows what he's talking about when it comes to hockey.
The Leafs Nation's popular podcast, Leafs Morning Take with Nick Alberga and Jay Rosehill had the unique pleasure of welcoming Quenneville to the podcast this week to discuss a wide range of topics, including some involving the Toronto Maple Leafs. Quenneville, a former draft pick of the Leafs back in 1978, seemed elated to be discussing the team in its current form, with all of the talent spread throughout the lineup. However, when it came to Auston Matthews, Quenneville had a little extra excitement when talking about one of the elite young players in the game.
I love the way he shoots the puck, I like how he finds a way to get himself open. The puck follows him around as well. Wants the puck all the time. You know, he's an elite, elite player. You're talking about McDavid and himself, maybe one, two in the game... Certainly Auston is having an outstanding year.
He's got that knack [for scoring]. He's a great player."
Was it a stretch for Quenneville to call Matthews one of the top two players in the league right now? I don't think it's a stretch at all. Sure, Matthews might not be leading the league in points and probably won't be by the end of the year either. Still, the prospect of him scoring 70 or more goals this season seems to be increasing by the day, and thanks to Matthews, we're likely going to see the greatest season by a goal scorer since 1992-93 when Teemu Selanne and Alex Mogilny lit the league on fire and scored 76 goals each. It doesn't shock me in the least that Quenneville, a student of the game and a player's coach, is so enamored with Matthews and the way he plays the game, en route to what could be a 77-goal season (his current pace).
In terms of Quenneville's future, he couldn't really offer any solid answers when it comes to whether or not we'll see him behind an NHL bench again anytime soon, but you could tell just by hearing him talk that he still has a lot of love for the game and looks forward to a time when he might be able to make his way back into the coaching ranks in the NHL, whenever that may be.
| POLL | ||
FEVRIER 23 | 864 ANSWERS 3-time Stanley Cup winning coach Joel Quenneville makes a shocking claim about Auston Matthews Do you agree with Joel Quenneville about Auston Matthews being a top two player in the National Hockey League? | ||
| Yes | 792 | 91.7 % |
| No | 72 | 8.3 % |
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