Auston Matthews: The Cure for What Ails Us

Hmmm, is a laser beamwrist shot better for us than a fourth shot in the arm?

We have not had much tocheer about the last two years with the looming shadow of the pandemic and allthe restrictions imposed because of it. Life has been a hunker down and wait exercise as we rode out the COVID waves whilerolling up our sleeves three times for the jab.

And so, it probably should not be a surprise that hockey fans province-wide gave each other virtual high-five when Auston Matthews set a new Toronto Maple Leaf single season record for goals recently. We have been eagerly observing his march toward the record.

For those of you out ofthe loop, Matthews hit the landmark 50 goal mark a few games back, tied RickVaive’s long standing record of 54 goals with an empty net goal and has surgedto 56 goals since then. It is a safe bet he will hit, and quite likely pass,the 60 goal plateau by the end of the season.

Despite the fact thatMatthews was born in the U.S., all of us proud Leaf fans are adopting him as anhonourary Canadian. If he leads our beloved Maple Leafs to their first StanleyCup in 55 years, we will give him the keys to the Rogers Centre, the city andeven the province.

Of course, we should also be extending our gratitude to Mitch Marner – Matthews partner in crime on the Leaf’s top line. Marner has been tearing it up since returning from injury and feeding Matthews picture-perfect passes for many of his goals.

Hockey is the Canadian game. Our national identity is tied up in it. Hockey Night in Canada on Saturday evening is a tradition as old as the hills and more Canadian than Maple Syrup or Canadian Tire. Hockey is what we relied on to lift our spirits during the lockdowns. We sorely missed it when it was shutdown.

For all of these reasons, every goal that Matthews scores now is a shot in the arm to our collective psyches. I personally believe it is will benefit us far more than the fourth vaccine shot. (FYI: I am opting out of that jab.) Good old fashioned euphoria, which has been in short supply for some time, is the best medicine when all is said and done – and every Matthews goal feeds the fever.

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~ Michael Robert Dyet is alsothe author of Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel whichwas a double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael’swebsite at www.mdyetmetaphor.com .

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