Mark Giordano compares Auston Matthews to a beloved Hall-of-Famer
Auston Matthews hit a career milestone in last nights game against the Winnipeg Jets, scoring his 50th goal of the season and becoming the first Leaf to do so since Dave Andreychuk did it in 1994. After hitting the milestone, Matthews was given some high praise from teammate, Mark Giordano.
Giordano spent the majority of his career with the Calgary Flames and many of those season were with Hall-of-Famer, Jarome Iginla, who Giordano likens Auston Matthews to.
Iginla was one of the NHL's best goal scorers for almost twenty years, scoring at least 30 goals in all but two seasons between 2000 and 2015. Iginla accomplished a lot in his storied NHL career. He made it to a Stanley Cup Final, won two gold medals and is one of the most respected players to ever lace them up. He was never afraid to get involved physically, whether that be with his body or his fists. While Matthews doesn't fight, he does score. A lot. He's also very hard on the puck, like Iginla was.
Matthews has been one of the league's most prolific goal scorers ever since he scored 4 goals in his NHL debut. This season, we've seen a nasty side to Auston Matthews. He's gotten involved physically in many games and he's used his 6'3 frame to his advantage. He's also shown lots of maturity and has blossomed into one of the leaders in the Leafs' locker room.
Giordano has played with many great players, but being compared to Jarome Iginla is high praise for the NHL's leading goal scorer. That being said, it's praise that Matthews has earned and now that he's checked off scoring 50 goals, Matthews will look to pass Rick Vaive's franchise record for goals in a season with 54.
Iggy scored over 600 goals in his NHL career and, assuming he doesn't slow down anytime soon, it is probable that Matthews could join him in the 600 goal club.
| POLL | ||
AVRIL 1 | 394 ANSWERS Mark Giordano compares Auston Matthews to a beloved Hall-of-Famer Will Auston Matthews surpass Jarome Iginla's 625 career NHL goals? | ||
| Yes | 322 | 81.7 % |
| No | 24 | 6.1 % |
| He's going to challenge Gretzky's record | 48 | 12.2 % |
| List of polls | ||
