Team USA captain Auston Matthews was cheered on his return to Toronto – just days after breaking Canadian hearts at the Winter Olympics.
Matthews led the USA to a first men’s gold medal in 46 years with an overtime victory over their bitter rivals in Milan Cortina.
After securing gold – and then visiting the White House for Donald Trump’s State of the Union address – Matthews was back on the ice at Scotiabank Arena over the weekend.
The 28-year-old is also captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs and many fans gave him a standing ovation as he returned north of the border for the return of the NHL season.
During their game against the Ottawa Senators on Saturday night, the Maple Leafs ‘proudly recognized’ their three players who had competed in Italy.
After Sweden’s William Nylander and Oliver Ekman-Larsson were both introduced to the crowd, the arena announcer welcomed home ‘gold medalist’ Matthews. There were a few initial jeers from the crowd at Scotiabank Arena but they were soon drowned out by applause and cheers, with a number of fans rising to their feet.
Auston Matthews led the USA to Winter Olympics gold with victory over Canada in Italy
The Toronto Maple Leafs captain was back on the ice at Scotiabank Arena over the weekend
Matthews was unable to inspire the Maple Leafs to victory, however, as Toronto fell to a 5-2 loss to the Senators.
Ottawa was led by another Team USA star, Brady Tkachuk, who was seen looking up at the jumbotron as Matthews was introduced to the crowd.
America took double hockey gold in Milan Cortina but their celebrations were overshadowed after Donald Trump cracked a joke about the women’s team during a call with Matthews and Co.
Trump invited the men to the White House before telling them, in a leaked phone call from the locker room: ‘We are going to have to bring the women’s team… I do believe I would probably be impeached [if I didn’t invite them].’
His comment drew laughter from the men’s team, who instantly accepted the offer. An invitation was later sent to the women’s team, but it was declined ‘due to the timing and previously scheduled academic and professional commitments.’
Trump’s joke sparked outrage but women’s star Abbey Murphy defended their male counterparts and insisted they didn’t need to apologize for their reaction.
‘You hear someone in the back of the phone call yell “two for two”, and we never felt anything bad from them,’ she said about the viral video.
‘It’s sad that they even had to apologize for anything. It was a huge part for both teams and honestly a really cool moment.’
Matthews shakes hands with Connor McDavid after breaking Canadian hearts in Milan-Cortina
Murphy also went on to highlight the strong relationship between the women’s and men’s teams, explaining how they sat together for two-and-a-half hours after the win over Canada.
‘They’re a special group of boys and we’re just honored to be on that journey with them,’ she said.
‘But we know how much they respect us and we respect them, so it definitely goes two ways.’
During his State of the Union address, Trump announced that the USA women’s team will still be visiting the White House at a later date.
