A team spokesman said Friday there will be «a moment of recognition for our three Oympians», Matthews and Swedes William Nylander and Oliver Ekman-Larsson.
‘This one is a hot potato,’ a former Canadian NHL club public relations person with experience staging such events told the Toronto Sun. ‘I think he’d get some booing for sure – for a couple of reasons.’
It’s a little easier for the Maple Leafs to have done this before considering that the last person to have gotten recognition as an Olympian is Mats Sundin.
Toronto should acknowledge Matthews properly, but promptly
But with how tense things are at times currently, Matthews’ decision to celebrate has caused a lot of debate over whether or not he should be given one, but the fact Toronto is also celebrating Oliver Ekman-Larsson and William Nylander as well, it’s about celebrating their achievements too.
If the team wants to avoid any public issues, then perhaps they will follow in the footsteps of the Montreal Canadiens who used a TV timeout to give the arena crowd a chance to celebrate briefly; just a video and acknowledgement and move on.
Matthews definitely deserves the recognition, and with the Maple Leafs heading home for the first time since the Olympics (and not to mention playing Brady Tkachuk and the Senators) it could lead into a lot more fireworks than Toronto anticipated, regardless of how much they want to move past everything.