Auston Matthews excited to be nominated for the Hart Trophy, but admits that's not what he's focused on
The announcement that Auston Matthews is one of the three finalists for the Hart Memorial Trophy is not exactly a surprise to anyone given the year he's had. With 60 goals and 106 points in 73 games, Matthews' points-per-game pace was second only to Connor McDavid, another Hart Trophy finalist, with Igor Shesterkin being the third candidate for the award.
While Matthews admits that it is an honour to be up for the Hart Trophy, he revealed on Thursday ahead of Game 6 in Tampa that being named a finalist for the award is not at the forefront of his mind. The task at hand (Game 6) is his main focus.
"It feels good to be nominated and be acknowledged. It's not something I take lightly. It's a big honour. To be nominated as one of the three means a lot, but that's not really my focus right now. This (Game 6) is more important."
While Matthews seemed intent on playing down his nomination, Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe was a little more vocal about how impressive Matthews' season has been and how much he deserves the honour.
"We've spoken about it a lot and for good reason because he's been such a significant contributor in so many areas for our team. And the other part is that he's just been so consistent. The goal scoring has been so consistent, at a pace higher than anybody else. The five-on-five scoring in particular, which is the hardest thing to do in our game, and he does that at a rate that seems like nobody in the game is able to keep up with for the last few years. But then the intangibles of his game, too. He plays so many minutes for us and still plays hard and still plays well defensively, physically engaged, all the things that he's done for us. It's tremendous for him to have that honour and tremendous for the Leafs, it's been a long time for a player to be honoured like that. Obviously when it comes to news coming at this point, there's other things on everybody's mind, but it is certainly a well-deserved recognition."
Matthews will have a whole career to add to his trophy collection, but it appears as though there is only one that truly matters - The Stanley Cup. To be honest, that's the way it should be.
Make no mistake, the Leafs are dialed in and ready to go for Game 6 in Tampa. Having experienced so many disappointments in elimination games over the past 5 seasons, the Buds don't want to experience that feeling again. I'd anticipate a fast-paced, hard-hitting game tonight, because we know how Tampa is going to come out and we know that the Leafs will need to match or exceed that intensity to have a chance of eliminating the defending Champs in 6.
| POLL | ||
MAI 12 | 215 ANSWERS Auston Matthews excited to be nominated for the Hart Trophy, but admits that's not what he's focused on How many goals will Auston Matthews finish with in the postseason? | ||
| 3-5 | 30 | 14 % |
| 6-9 | 70 | 32.6 % |
| 10-14 | 86 | 40 % |
| 15+ | 29 | 13.5 % |
| List of polls | ||
