<p>Leadership takes on many forms and Auston Matthews remains cool, calm and collected as he embarks upon a new chapter of his professional career.</p>
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<p>Matthews met with reporters Friday, after being officially announced as captain of Team USA for the upcoming 4 Nations Face-Off. Players across the league have been starved of best-on-best competition, with the World Cup of Hockey taking place a month before Matthews&#8217; rookie season with the Toronto Maple Leafs embarked. It&#8217;s a new opportunity for Matthews to re-assert his place as one of the defining faces of the NHL and perhaps the defining player in American hockey, in a renewed era of prosperity for the national team.</p>
<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s a huge honour. Just to be able to represent your country is pretty special. To have the honour of wearing the C, it&#8217;s exciting. It&#8217;s definitely not lost on me, the amount of leaders that are already on this team, guys who wear letters for their respective clubs. It&#8217;s definitely something I&#8217;m not taking for granted, it&#8217;s pretty special,&#8221; Matthews said.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s almost a demure response in some ways. Matthews was the clear choice for the captaincy — yes, Quinn Hughes is having a better individual season — but he commands the gravitas of the room, coming off a 69-goal season, with a Hart Trophy on the mantlepiece. It&#8217;s been nearly a decade without best-on-best competition and during that span, Matthews has asserted himself as a generational goal-scorer, who has transformed into an elite defensive presence. He is the calming influence in a room full of leaders, featuring some players that have lifted the Stanley Cup.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s obvious that this tournament means the world to this cohort of stars — Connor McDavid was sorely disappointed when the NHL pulled out of the Olympics, and the players that stole the show as part of Team North America nine years ago are now the NHL&#8217;s leading stars. McDavid and Nathan MacKinnon will be leading Team Canada, while Matthews is firmly in the prime of his career as well, in his first year as the Maple Leafs&#8217; captain, which should make his role with the USA a relatively light lift.</p>
<p>“I think I speak for a lot of guys, I think everybody’s been kind of hoping that this would come into fruition,” Matthews said. “We missed out on a couple of the Olympics already, which is unfortunate. But representing your country is very special.</p>
<p>&#8220;Being able to play in the (4 Nations) is a little bit of a different format. But it’s still sort of best-on-best. But it’s been a while. So I think it’s something that the players have been craving and looking forward to, and I think the fans as well.&#8221;</p>
<p>For now, Matthews&#8217; composure will lend itself well to a short tournament, where elite players like Jack Hughes, are praying to play on his line. Matthews admitted — and this is obvious to those of us who cover the Maple Leafs, or watch the team religiously — that he&#8217;s not going to be a blisteringly vocal leader, rather that his actions on and off the ice will be paramount to Team USA&#8217;s success.</p>
<p>&#8220;I think going into it, maybe responsibilities change. There are little things here and there, but in the end, just be myself every day, be who I am. That&#8217;s why I&#8217;ve gotten to where I am and why I&#8217;ve been chosen to be the captain. For myself, I don&#8217;t think the approach or anything is really different. You gain a lot of experience throughout the years and you learn a lot of stuff from different players that have been captain. Obviously, Johnny (Tavares) him being the captain of the team for the last several years, and the experience he had playing in Long Island, and being the captain there, and a guy that I really lean on, and others as well that I&#8217;ve played with throughout my career in Toronto.&#8221;</p>
<p>Matthews is presented with the chance to represent his country for the first time as an adult, and separate himself from his peers, who have been longing to prove themselves in a best-on-best scenario. Playing for the Maple Leafs is a pressure cooker environment and Matthews is well-attuned to the challenges of what high-level hockey presents. It could portend better results for the Maple Leafs coming out of the tournament too, as Matthews is sure to soak up advice from his teammates, while leading by example. He&#8217;s back in full form, he&#8217;s cool, calm and collected, and it wouldn&#8217;t be a surprise if Matthews is walking with away with a gold medal next month, by remaining the person he has been for the past nine years in Toronto.</p>
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Leadership takes on many forms and Auston Matthews remains cool, calm and collected as he embarks upon a new chapter of his professional career.
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Matthews met with reporters Friday, after being officially announced as captain of Team USA for the upcoming 4 Nations Face-Off. Players across the league have been starved of best-on-best competition, with the World Cup of Hockey taking place a month before Matthews' rookie season with the Toronto Maple Leafs embarked. It's a new opportunity for Matthews to re-assert his place as one of the defining faces of the NHL and perhaps the defining player in American hockey, in a renewed era of prosperity for the national team.

"It's a huge honour. Just to be able to represent your country is pretty special. To have the honour of wearing the C, it's exciting. It's definitely not lost on me, the amount of leaders that are already on this team, guys who wear letters for their respective clubs. It's definitely something I'm not taking for granted, it's pretty special," Matthews said.

It's almost a demure response in some ways. Matthews was the clear choice for the captaincy — yes, Quinn Hughes is having a better individual season — but he commands the gravitas of the room, coming off a 69-goal season, with a Hart Trophy on the mantlepiece. It's been nearly a decade without best-on-best competition and during that span, Matthews has asserted himself as a generational goal-scorer, who has transformed into an elite defensive presence. He is the calming influence in a room full of leaders, featuring some players that have lifted the Stanley Cup.

It's obvious that this tournament means the world to this cohort of stars — Connor McDavid was sorely disappointed when the NHL pulled out of the Olympics, and the players that stole the show as part of Team North America nine years ago are now the NHL's leading stars. McDavid and Nathan MacKinnon will be leading Team Canada, while Matthews is firmly in the prime of his career as well, in his first year as the Maple Leafs' captain, which should make his role with the USA a relatively light lift.

“I think I speak for a lot of guys, I think everybody’s been kind of hoping that this would come into fruition,” Matthews said. “We missed out on a couple of the Olympics already, which is unfortunate. But representing your country is very special.

"Being able to play in the (4 Nations) is a little bit of a different format. But it’s still sort of best-on-best. But it’s been a while. So I think it’s something that the players have been craving and looking forward to, and I think the fans as well."

For now, Matthews' composure will lend itself well to a short tournament, where elite players like Jack Hughes, are praying to play on his line. Matthews admitted — and this is obvious to those of us who cover the Maple Leafs, or watch the team religiously — that he's not going to be a blisteringly vocal leader, rather that his actions on and off the ice will be paramount to Team USA's success.

"I think going into it, maybe responsibilities change. There are little things here and there, but in the end, just be myself every day, be who I am. That's why I've gotten to where I am and why I've been chosen to be the captain. For myself, I don't think the approach or anything is really different. You gain a lot of experience throughout the years and you learn a lot of stuff from different players that have been captain. Obviously, Johnny (Tavares) him being the captain of the team for the last several years, and the experience he had playing in Long Island, and being the captain there, and a guy that I really lean on, and others as well that I've played with throughout my career in Toronto."

Matthews is presented with the chance to represent his country for the first time as an adult, and separate himself from his peers, who have been longing to prove themselves in a best-on-best scenario. Playing for the Maple Leafs is a pressure cooker environment and Matthews is well-attuned to the challenges of what high-level hockey presents. It could portend better results for the Maple Leafs coming out of the tournament too, as Matthews is sure to soak up advice from his teammates, while leading by example. He's back in full form, he's cool, calm and collected, and it wouldn't be a surprise if Matthews is walking with away with a gold medal next month, by remaining the person he has been for the past nine years in Toronto.
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Auston Matthews remains cool, calm, collected while embracing the challenge of leading Team USA

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