Mike Modano thinks Olympic Gold could prove to be a turning point for Matthews: Leafs Morning Take

Since the hockey world’s obsessed with Toronto, it was only fitting that Jack Hughes, who spent a part of his childhood in the GTA, ended up scoring the golden goal at the Milan Games.

What a game. Someone had to win, someone had to lose.

To kick off the Monday edition of Leafs Morning – as we returned to our full-time schedule – we hit on everything surrounding Sunday’s OT thriller. From Nathan MacKinnon disdain for that stuffed animal to Hughes going five-hole in OT on Jordan Binnington to capture gold for Team USA, we tackled it all. Firstly, congratulations to Auston Matthews, who had a very strong showing in Italy. As expected, it was a tight game. That said, there’s no question that Canada was the better team. That’s the way it goes sometimes, though. Connor Hellebuyck was awesome. That was indisputably the big story. Canada had its chances. That’s life. No need to make excuses. Win with grace, lose with grace. Plain and simple.

At any rate, we dove into the Matthews storyline. As per usual, he had several teammates come to his defence after the game. For the first time in his career, the Leafs captain won the big one, so naturally, we discussed what Olympic gold means for his legacy. Matthews, who tallied a helper in Sunday’s final, finished the tournament with three goals and seven points in six outings. He definitely didn’t hurt his stock, that’s for sure. As mentioned, both Jack Hughes and Quinn Hughes were quoted following the win. They wanted the hockey world to know that Matthews is now officially a winner. They wanted that to be celebrated in Toronto. To be fair, we did spend a good portion of the show discussing just that. He did that. He played a huge role in GOLD, too, which was great to see. It’s one thing to be captain of the Maple Leafs, it’s another to lead an entire nation.

The Matthews theme continued into our interview with Hockey Hall of Famer Mike Modano, who’s one of the best American players to ever do it. Unsurprisingly, he was very complimentary of Matthews. Modano did clarify some comments he made on Toronto radio/TV a few weeks ago regarding the market and not wishing the scrutiny on anybody. Furthermore, the 55-year-old thinks there’s no question that Matthews has silenced some of his doubters. He thinks he can springboard this victory into future success, too. Modano also went out of his way to suggest that he thinks Matthews needs more around him in Toronto. He was very fair with his assessment and praise.

Lastly, we touched quickly on the Leafs, who are getting set for Wednesday’s game in Tampa, then Thursday night in Sunrise. At this point, Matthews’ availability is not known for that game. The U.S. team – due to weather – was diverted to Miami. On top of that, they’re expected to be at the White House on Tuesday.  Meantime, Dakota Joshua looks like he’s ready to return to the lineup.

At any rate, Zack Phillips will be in for Jay Rosehill on the Tuesday edition of Leafs Morning Take. We’re going to continue with the American theme as Hockey Hall of Famer Jeremy Roenick will drop by the show. Also, we’ll start to look ahead to Wednesday’s return from the Olympics for the Leafs as they visit Jon Cooper’s Bolts.