Leafs, Leaders, and Legacies: John Tavares & Auston Matthews

With the news of Auston Matthews becoming the Toronto Maple Leafs captain official, Steve Dangle further dives into the legacy of John Tavares and what's next for the player and his decision to relinquish the captaincy.

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[pauls]

Touching on John's numbers, since July 1, 2000, John Tavares is 10th in goals. Dude has been one of the best players of the 21st century, 100%.

[JamesFrancoeur]

Actually Austin mentioned he met Tavares and his family (kids included) and they were all wearing Austin's shirt with the C on it, class act . Tears 😅

[kxstles]

I don’t comment often but to be totally honest John Tavares is hands down the classiest player on the Maple Leafs. He will go down as a legend of this franchise and truthfully a legend of this era of hockey. We bag on these guys for not going all the way and yeah they have underperformed but that’s not to take away that when John boy scored that legendary goal against Tampa we all acted like we’d won the cup. Johnny Toronto for the class act he is, is a legend.

[austinmiller]

John Tavares handing the C to Auston Matthews is like Charlie Conway stepping aside and giving his roster spot to Russ Tyler in the 1992 Goodwill Games

[SAUBLEBEACHONTARIO]

Very impressed the way it all went down. Great job to everyone involved.

[BsMXxD]

This season is brought to you by the letter C for "This season is so Consequential we're going to run it back with the same Core"! Amazing!

[JaseboMonkeyRex]

watched the press conference and what a class act of everyone involved... JT is such a class act - and when they raise Lord stanley over their head we will be screaming in joy! Go Leafs GO!!

[AmarRajasansi]

Honestly, say what you want about the Islanders going back to back final four, in this market I think if the leafs had made even one conference final with this group this era wouldn't be seen as the failure it is currently seen as, if they made two in a row this team would probably be as beloved as the Gilmour Clark period, and the Tavares signing would be viewed purely positively.

[Puckguy]

Tavares
Phaneuf
Sundin
Gilmour
Clark
Ramage
Vaive
Sittler
Keon
Armstrong

All I can recall. Happy August, Steve!

[sliceruser]

im blown away by how many people are suprised or upset by this, it seems like the best time and a long time coming, you could argue it could have been morgan but auston isnt a bad choice here. this also takes some pressure off tavares which i think is a big deal

[jdhali]

The structure of the leafs might be different with Berube
But the results will be the same, doesn’t matter who’s the captain.
They have yet to address their core defensive problems

[bennieirvine]

i was time and they did it in a great way

[angrydalailama]

Can't disagree. Class act, John.

[alexrompen]

If they win a Cup with Matthews as the captain, we will start a Go Fund Me to build a 50 foot high statue of solid gold outside City Hall....

[Tav]

John Tavares is a class act. He was a great Captain. He brought the young core forward as players and as Team ambassadors. His influence in their development is huge.
Passing the C to Auston is a great gesture and a chance for Auston to take the team forward.
There is nothing bad about this.
Pure class all the way.
To all the doubters, all the negative crap-hurlers, all the mud slingers, take a breath and see it for what it is.
Stop throwing shade on positive things.
And consider this, it’s known in business, it’s known in sports it’s known in the arts that if you surround somebody or a team or a company with negative thoughts they will never do well. Because they have to climb out of the crap of negativity just to show up. Try being positive, imagine good things, and be honest. If you were facing John Tavares yourself right now would you throw that kind of garbage in his face to his face verbally? Would you say the things you’re saying to Austin Matthews, to his face? No you wouldn’t. You wouldn’t have the guts. so why put it here on Steve’s comment wall?

[bbbcid]

Passing the torch? Yes.
Passing the blame? Perhaps.
Matthews has a once in a career opportunity here.

[Interchange_Enjoyer]

What happened to Steve’s Dang-Its, loved that show 😔

[andrewdockrill]

Being captain of this team is going to take years off his life. Surprised it took this long but still.

[wilsy]

Steve your right. If John wears the A and we win or go for a long run. John is definitely going to be a hall of famer. He ended the islanders series curse in overtime. Then he ended the leafs series curse in overtime. Round one or not. Two huge goals nobody forgets

[tonyfromlasalle]

I’ve never seen a more momentous occasion treated with the enthusiasm of a funeral. Good luck TML