Matthew Knies put on 10 pounds of bulk this summer to hit 227, but Auston Matthews might say part of that is an over-inflated ego.
The two Arizonans, two-thirds of the Maple Leafs top line with Mitch Marner that new coach Craig Berube will keep for now, got in a playful spat about who topped whom on the tennis court in the past weeks when they returned to Toronto for training camp.
“I kind of smoked him,” Knies boasted during his availability at the Ford Centre, making the claim twice so reporters heard him. “I was into tennis when I was a kid and when I got here, he invited me over and I’ve been smoking him since.”
Matthews hardly waited for the first question to rebut when his turn at the podium came.
“He’s never beaten me. I told him ‘I can’t believe you’d lie to the media like that.’ He’s a good player. But he lied.”
Of course, the two aren’t paid to serve and volley, they’ll be counted on with Marner to score. Matthews won a third Rocket Richard Trophy last season with 69 goals, Marner averaged 1.23 points a game after falling one shy of 100 the season before. Knies had 35 points in 80 games, but number crunching showed the trio an effective unit at 5-on-5 after hopes the now-departed Tyler Bertuzzi would be the long-term answer.
A larger Knies and the equally 6-foot-3 Matthews will be a handful for NHL rivals down low.
“He’s man already and I’m looking forward to seeing the progress he’s made,” Matthews said of Knies.
Berube sees Knies as the ideal specimen for the heavy hockey he plans to instil, but wants to see him with the all-stars in real games.
“He’s a physical player with some hands,” the coach said, “A guy who goes to the net, creates loose pucks in the offensive zone, be a good forechecker and be responsible defensively.”
Rising with Matthews and Marner is a left wing assignment any NHLer would crave.
“A priviledge, but I’ll have to earn my keep there,” Knies said. “I’m going to work my tail off to stay there and support them. I learned a lot from them last year. They feed off each other a lot and Mitchy can make some unbelievable plays, so I just need to keep my stick on the ice, be around the net. Auston is good in all areas so I have to be ready at all times.”
MARSHALL GETS A MENTION
As captain, Matthews’ words carry more clout and his endorsement of defenceman Marshall Rifai on Friday was no doubt a confidence builder for the 26-year-old from Beaconsfield, Que.
Undrafted, the 6-foot-2 Rifai went from Harvard University a couple of years ago to the Toronto Marlies and got in two Leaf games last season. Matthews noted Rifai was a dedicated worker in the off-season, skating with Leaf regulars the past few weeks and carried that enthusiasm into camp.
Matthews brought up Rifai when asked about a few new Leafs that have caught his attention this week.
“He works so hard, you can just see he wants it and just continues to progress. I’ve been really impressed the way he plays hard on both sides of the puck.
“(Winger) Bobby McMann has looked really good. You can tell him and Knies are similar players, how strong they are and the skill set they have.”
GAME ON
Sunday is the Leafs’ first exhibition game against Ottawa at Scotiabank Arena. Berube is sorting through more than 70 players to get as many in a game as possible, with only six contests in all.
“I’ll sit down with (general manager Brad Treliving) and the coaches and go over it,” he said. “It’s definitely important to get our NHL guys in there and obviously young guys and people fighting for jobs we want to see, too, who have shown me something in the first two days.”
ALS AWARENESS FUNDRAISER
Coming up on the second anniversary of Leaf great Borje Salming’s passing from ALS, former mate Mark Kirton and the ALS Action Canada are gathering on Parliament Hill in Ottawa next Tuesday to announce significant funding initiatives and the urgent needs of the ALS community.
Darryl Sittler will be among the Leafs present as the group prepares for a Dec. 5 live online auction at Real Sports next to Scotiabank, full of NHL memorabilia, hosted by Jim Cuddy of Blue Rodeo and Ron MacLean. Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis affects 1,000 new Canadians each year.
LOOSE LEAFS
The players are quickly getting used to Berube’s style, many incumbents after almost five years of Sheldon Keefe. “(Day one) was a good push, up and down the ice,” defenceman Jake McCabe said. “It’s the battle level that you can’t replicate in the summer. Just turn the brain on that it’s time to ramp up the intensity” … Part of Day 2 of workouts were turned over to new assistant coach Lane Lambert and a new penalty killing system. The Leafs were in the bottom third of that category last season. “We’ll work on it more (Saturday) with both groups, the team that will play (Ottawa) and the team that doesn’t,” Berube said … New defenceman Chris Tanev says he’s adapting well to Berube’s tweaks on defence. “A lot of teams are having success with it, more of a zone style defence, but still aggressive as possible. Communication will be a big part of that going forward.”
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