But he had one thing to add: “Have you seen the Auston Matthews kid play yet?”Auston Matthews, age 19, played the first game of his Leafs career in Ottawa Wednesday. But the Matthews kid didn’t grow up on a frozen pond. Auston Matthews, would-be saviour of the Toronto Maple Leafs, is California-born and Scottsdale, Ariz.,-raised. Don Granato, Matthews’ coach for two years with the United States National Team Development Program, was only slightly less emotional. According to a resident barber, most of the barber-chair conversations began with a similar question:“Did you see the Matthews kid last night?”Did you?

Source: National Post October 13, 2016 22:30 UTC