Auston Matthews

This article is about the American hockey player. For the Welsh cricket player, see Austin Matthews.

Auston Matthews
Matthews with the ZSC Lions in 2016
Born	(1997-09-17) September 17, 1997 San Francisco, CA, USA
Height	6 ft 2 in (188 cm)
Weight	194 lb (88 kg; 13 st 12 lb)
Position	Center
Shoots	Left
NLA team	ZSC Lions
NHL Draft	Eligible 2016
Playing career	2015–present

Auston Matthews (born September 17, 1997) is an American ice hockey center. He is currently playing for the ZSC Lions of the Swiss National League A (NLA). Previously, Matthews played for the U.S. National U18 Team in the USHL. Matthews is widely considered the #1 prospect of the 2016 NHL Entry Draft.^[1]

Born in San Francisco, California, Matthews and his family moved to Scottsdale, Arizona when Matthews was an infant. It was here where Matthews learned to play hockey, developing an interest after watching the hometown Phoenix Coyotes play. Internationally, Matthews has represented the United States in numerous tournaments including a U17 WHC Gold Medal, two U18 WJC Gold Medals, and a IIHF World U20 Championship appearance.

Early life

Matthews was born in the San Francisco Bay Area to Brian, from California, and Ema, originally from Mexico. The family moved to Scottsdale, Arizona when Auston was two months old.^[2] Matthews began attending Phoenix Coyotes games when he was two years old, and his favorite players were Shane Doan and Daniel Brière.^[3] Matthews first expressed a desire to play hockey shortly after his sixth birthday, and began playing with the Arizona Bobcats minor hockey program.^[4] When Matthews was younger, he played both hockey and baseball. According to his father, baseball was his best sport, but his true passion was hockey.

Playing career

Matthews was drafted 57th overall by the Everett Silvertips in the WHL Bantam Draft but opted to play for the USNTDP Juniors (USHL). That season he played for the U.S. National U17 Team (USDP) where he gained national attention from NHL scouts. In his second season with the U.S. National U18 Team (USDP, Matthews finished First in league scoring with 116 points (55 goals, 61 assists), breaking the National Team Development Program record of 102, set by Chicago Blackhawks star Patrick Kane in 2005–06 and besting Buffalo Sabres' Jack Eichel by 29 points. On May 21, 2015, Matthews won the USA Hockey Bob Johnson Award for excellence in international competition.^[5]

Matthews trained with the USA Hockey National Team Development Program team during the 2013–14 and 2014–15 seasons. Matthews was named the 2015 Most Valuable Player at the World U18 Championships in addition to being named to the IIHF All-star team, and named the IIHF Best Forward after finishing as the tournament's top scorer.

On August 7, 2015, Matthews signed a one-year contract to play in the Swiss National League A for the ZSC Lions.^[6] After missing the first four games of the 2015–16 regular season, he made his NLA debut on September 18, 2015 and scored his first goal that same day against Benjamin Conz of HC Fribourg-Gottéron on home ice at the Hallenstadion.

On February 3, 2016, he tallied 2 assists in a 4-1 win over the Lausanne HC in the 2015/16 Swiss Cup final.

International play


Medal record

Competitor for United States
Men's ice hockey
IIHF World U18 Championship
	2015 Switzerland
	2014 Finland
IIHF World U20 Championship
	2016 Finland

Matthews helped lead Team USA to gold at the U18s in 2014 and 2015, while leading the tournament in scoring and being named MVP in 2015.

At the 2016 IIHF World Junior Championships held in Helsinki, Matthews and Matthew Tkachuk each scored 11 points to lead the American team in scoring. After losing in the semifinals, the American team beat Sweden to claim the bronze model. In recognition of his play, he was named to the tournament All-star team.

Personal

He is of Mexican descent through his mother and can speak some Spanish.^[7]

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

			Regular season					Playoffs
Season	Team	League	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM

2013–14	U.S. National Development Team	USHL	44	24	26	50	18	—	—	—	—	—
2014–15	U.S. National Development Team	USHL	60	55	61	116	30	—	—	—	—	—
USHL totals			104	79	87	166	48	—	—	—	—	—

International

Year	Team	Event	Result	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
2014	United States	U17	01 !	6	4	4	8	8
2014	United States	WJC18	01 !	7	5	2	7	4
2015	United States	WJC18	01 !	7	8	7	15	0
2015	United States	WJC	5th	5	1	2	3	4
2016	United States	WJC	03 !	7	7	4	11	2

Junior totals				25	25	19	44	18

Awards and honors

Award	Year
USHL
USHL Third All-Star Team	2014–15
International
World U-17 Hockey Challenge Gold Medal	2014
IIHF World U18 Championship Gold Medal	2014
IIHF World U18 Championship Gold Medal	2015
IIHF World U18 Championship Most Valuable Player	2015	^[8]
IIHF World Junior Championship All-Star Team	2016

References

↑ "ISS TOP 30". ISS Hockey.
↑ "From Arizona to Switzerland, Auston Matthews' life shaped by family". ESPN. 2015-05-07. Retrieved 2015-10-28.
↑ "Person of Interest: The 411 on Auston Matthews". Sportsnet. 2015-05-07. Retrieved 2016-01-01.
↑ "Auston Matthews leads a new wave of NHL stars". Sportsnet. 2015-03-27. Retrieved 2016-01-01.
↑ "2015 USAH Annual Award Winners Announced". USA Hockey. 2015-05-28. Retrieved 2015-06-11.
↑ "Auston Matthews to play in Switzerland not WHL". Sportsnet.ca. 2015-08-07. Retrieved 2015-08-07.
↑ "Matthews makes seamless transition on and off the ice in Switzerland". TSN. 2015-09-28. Retrieved 2016-01-01.
↑ "IIHF announces U18 All-Star Team" (PDF). International Ice Hockey Federation. 2015-05-21. Retrieved 2015-07-07.

External links

Career statistics and player information from Eliteprospects.com, or The Internet Hockey Database

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Saturday, February 13, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.