Outrage Very Apparent After Maple Leafs' Poor Handling of Auston Matthews Injury
A pair of trusted NHL Insiders have highlighted the unrest and outrage in Toronto over the Maple Leafs' handling of the Auston Matthews injury.
On November 8th, the 3-time Rocket Richard Trophy winner was placed on injured reserve with an unspecified upper-body injury, retroactive to November 3rd.
What was supposed to be a day-to-day timeline turned into the Leafs' captain missing several weeks and a total of 9 games.
Upon his return, Matthews revealed that the injury is something that had been bothering him since the pre-season, but he and the Leafs were hopeful that after seeing a specialist in Germany that it was behind him.
Ahead of Friday's game against the Buffalo Sabres, head coach Craig Berube confirmed a recent report that Matthews had been battling something and eventually re-aggravated the injury after taking a cross-check Friday night, which forced him to miss Saturday's game.
When news broke of Matthews missing Saturday's game, many fans were outraged at how the Leafs have mishandled his recovery with many questioning why he even returned to the lineup if he was never 100-percent.
On Monday's edition of 'First Up' TSN's Darren Dreger was asked if fans should be concerned, or at least 'queasy' about the number of injuries the team has been dealing with.
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Dreger also noted that if the primary concern of Leafs Nation was about how little information they have been given about injuries, then they should pump the brakes a little bit with their concern.
Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman revealed the same concern among fans on Monday's edition of his '32 Thoughts' podcast, revealing that the consensus among fans in Toronto was that it was fair to question why Matthews even played against Buffalo when Berube admitted that he was battling an injury.
With the Leafs taking on the Winnipeg Jets Monday afternoon, Matthews' status is yet to be confirmed, but it would come as a shock if he suited up for the game. It is expected that Matthews will remain out of the lineup until December 27th at the earliest.
