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Toronto Maple Leafs: Auston Matthews Nominated for Hart Trophy

By Michael Da Ponte

MONTREAL, QC - MAY 25: Auston Matthews #34 of the Toronto Maple Leafs looks on prior to a face-off against the Montreal Canadiens during the first period in Game Four of the First Round of the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs at the Bell Centre on May 25, 2021 in Montreal, Canada. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images)
MONTREAL, QC - MAY 25: Auston Matthews #34 of the Toronto Maple Leafs looks on prior to a face-off against the Montreal Canadiens during the first period in Game Four of the First Round of the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs at the Bell Centre on May 25, 2021 in Montreal, Canada. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images) /
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The Toronto Maple Leafs have their first Hart Trophy nominee in almost 30 years.

The NHL released the three nominees for the Hart Trophy and the Toronto Maple Leafs superstar  Auston Matthews has been nominated alongside Connor McDavid and Nathan MacKinnon.

Matthews has already won the Rocket Richard Trophy for scoring the most goals in the regular season, and has been nominated for a Lady Byng award, and the Ted Lindsay award. I know it is not exactly the trophies that Leafs fans were hoping to see in June but it is still a big deal.

It hasn’t exactly been an annual event of Maple Leafs players getting nominations and awards, especially not league MVP.

A Toronto Maple Leafs Rarity

The Toronto Maple Leafs have only had two players in their franchise history win the Hart Trophy, and they were both well before the league expanded in 1967. Since then the Maple Leafs have had only two nominations for the Hart Trophy, Darryl Sittler in the 70’s, and Doug Gilmour in the 90’s ( who would have won if Mario Lemieux wasn’t superhuman ).

This also leaves Matthews in very impressive company alongside two Maple Leafs legends. Even though the Maple Leafs ended the season in a bitter way, the regular season accomplishments of Auston Matthews will still go down in the history books as one of the most spectacular seasons in a Maple Leafs uniform.

I had written an article at the beginning of the season that I believed Matthews would win the Hart Trophy this season. I would like to believe that there is a chance that Matthews could surprise and take home this award, but the voters would have to really value goals.  We can hope, but it must be admitted that It is a near certainty that Connor McDavid will win this award, after scoring over 100 points in the shortened season.

Matthews finished the season with 41 goals and 25 assists for 66 points in 52 games, which is already bonkers enough until you see McDavid’s numbers, posting 33 goals and 72 assists for 105 points in 56 games. Any other season Matthews wins the Hart, hands down, with numbers like that. But his opportunity is dashed by an unworldly performance by a superhuman athlete. Familiar?

Just to put Matthews number into perspective, had this been a regular 82 game season and Matthews still missed four games due to injury, he would have scored over 60 goals. Those kind of numbers are rarely reached in a regular NHL season.

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And I know there will be some that write this season off completely because of the divisional format, and the empty arenas, and the condensed  schedule, but I will never forget this season. It definitely did not end the way I would have preferred but the entire regular season was a marvel to watch, and that’s because when #34 would come over the boards you always knew something special was going to happen. Congrats on the nomination Auston Matthews, and here’s hoping for many more down the road.

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