Auston Matthews Is Proof of Fan Diversity In Hockey

Now that the dust has settled and the Toronto Maple Leafs made it official by selecting Auston Matthews. I can finally say this now. A Mexican-American is now one of, if not the face of the Maple Leafs.

For those who may not know, Auston Matthews was born to a Mexican mother and an American father while being raised in the hockey hotbed of Scottsdale, Arizona. As a result, when the Maple Leafs took him on Friday night they made a little history as he was the first player in with Mexican heritage to go first overall.

Why is that all important?

Well, I am a Mexican-American Maple Leafs fan from the hockey hotbed of Los Angeles, CA and never did I imagine a player with the same background as myself would become the top prospect in hockey, go first overall, and be the face of an Original Six franchise.

This goes to show how much the game of hockey has grown over the years, especially in the non-traditional markets which has drawn fans of different backgrounds.

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As some of you may know, Auston Matthews grew to love the game while attending Phoenix Coyotes games and watching his favorite players like Danny Briere and Shane Doan, which is a similar way I fell in love with the game and the Maple Leafs.

I happen to stumble onto a hockey game on ESPN in 2002, back when they had the rights, and what do I see?

An Eastern Conference Finals matchup that featured the Maple Leafs going up against the Carolina Hurricanes. That’s how it all began for me, that’s when the seeds were planted for both the game of hockey and the Maple Leafs.

When you grew up in a non-traditional hockey market and are of a different background, hockey isn’t something that’s expose to you on a normal everyday bases, so when I finally got exposed to the game and the Maple Leafs I would get crazy looks whenever I decided to share my new found interest.

Nevertheless, winning brings in the crowds right?

The more I have visited Staples Center, the more diverse the crowds have gotten, sure it was after the Los Angeles Kings started putting on a winning product, but seeing people take an interest in the game can only help the sport of hockey and we are starting to see signs of it now.

The Chicago Blackhawks partnered up with Univision to have a Spanish radio broadcast of one of their games while the Florida Panthers partnered up with ESPN Deportes for their own radio broadcast, which resulted in the beauty of a call.

In order to grow the sport there needs to be some diversity in the fan bases, you always want to expose the game to as many people who have never seen a game of hockey, with the hope at least develop a passion for the game and for me Auston Matthews can be that symbol. Especially within the Latino community, yes there are players in the league of Latino decent, but none can make more of an impact to the growth like Matthews can.

So as I watched Auston Matthews go first overall, I could not have been any prouder because for one, I get to follow his career closely now that he will be apart of the Maple Leafs organization and see how he develops over the years.

Next: Expectations for Auston Matthews

However, most importantly I want to see a kid with the same background as him not only become a fan of hockey, but say to himself, “I want to become the next Auston Matthews.”