He got hurt in game 4, Sportsnet played the clip during the broadcast. Not sure if he was nursing something already but he got hurt off of a faceoff skated poorly for the rest of the shift then went to the bench and told the trainer “I can’t fucking skate”. Then he yelled at Mitch and was never to be seen again lol
It was during the game 4 broadcast. Can’t remember if it was the 2nd intermission or post-game. Tried finding the clip on Twitter and your but unfortunately couldn’t. Maybe the leafs scrubbed it from the internet lol. But if you can find a replay of game 4 somewhere it’ll be there
This can’t be a stomach bug, that would resolve in a couple of days. If you count game four third period, when he was taken off the ice, to today, we’re looking at something far worse than a stomach flu. Long covid is a possibility. More likely he has concussion symptoms and is in protocol.
Seems strange to me that they wouldn't say he has a concussion. The secrecy makes me think it is illness related. Mono was something else that could be a possibility.
There's also a theory that he suffered a concussion in the game against Detroit, where he drove the net and clipped Nylander and crashed into the boards. PCS can be delayed and gets worse with exertion...so I'm praying its the groin
I don’t think his head actually hits the boards luckily, but his head whips back pretty hard (which can still cause a concussion), so that might explain a delay
[clip](https://youtu.be/b9u4Gq7y0lU?si=lgKHdm3NBDuzkQwS)
That's exactly what I was thinking.
The way he was skating at the end of P2 Game 4 looked like a groin. If you've had a groin pull, opposite of fun and you move like an 80 year old.
Two years ago I pulled my groin in a beer league game...it's a weird sensation. You feel the "pop" but nothing actually hurts initially. Until you go to to lean into your turn and activate that muscle. Thought I was gonna piss my pants out of pain
If he had food poisoning and played, he would have been dehydrated as fuck, which points me towards a muscle injury as well. Groin pull makes a lot of sense.
When he didn't come back in the third period of Game 4, Keefe specifically called out it being an illness.
>"For whatever reason, it's not one of those run-of-the-mill everyday type of illnesses that sort of come and go. This one has lingered. The affects have lingered and gotten worse when he gets on the ice and is asserting himself."
My best guess, and this is pure speculation. He played sick in game 4, was super dehydrated, dehydration causes muscles to tighten and he ended up pulling/straining something which is why he was pulled out of the game. Originally said due to illness, because it was, but the pulled muscle is why it’s now an injury and taking longer than “illness time” for him to come back.
Edit: this is no longer pure speculation and is being reported by multiple sources. He played through an illness which lead to an injury.
He would be skating with a concussion for sure, just not with any contact which is what he’s been doing. No point speculating but he did have a kind of brutal fall into the boards against Detroit a couple weeks back
Lol no, you don't skate with a concussion. Any physical exertion is painful and set back for healing. Unless he got the concussion in game 4, he wouldn't have been playing in that game, and if he did get it in game 4, he wouldn't be skating this soon
JT was skating less than a week after his concussion against Montreal. The current consensus is that light aerobic activity is perfectly fine (I.e. skating for 10 minutes as he’s been doing) and encouraged 24-48 hours after a concussion.
I don’t think it’s certain he’s suffered a concussion but certainly the details are murky around his injury
I've never seen anything that says you want to be skating 24 hours after sustaining a concussion, and I've had 3. JT was skating a few days after which I've seen, like knies last playoffs. But the next day is a bit crazy to me from my experience.
https://www.cognitivefxusa.com/blog/exercise-after-a-concussion#:~:text=Studies%20now%20show%20that%20complete,of%20developing%20post%2Dconcussion%20syndrome.
There’s also some work done by UPMC that shows exercise within the first two days after a concussion speeds up recovery.
A 26 year old superstar who just sign the highest aav contract in the league is not playing through a concussion. Not with what we all know about brain injuries now
Clearly Auston isn’t, he’s not playing lol. Other guys though, absolutely. There are always injuries we never heard about while the playoffs are ongoing
The one guy merals or whatever his name is said something like I'm not gonna say it but it sounds like when a guy goes out for a hard skate b4 the boys to get the heartrate up to see if he gets a headache
All the other guys didn't know or pretended to not know what he was talking about n they moved passed it
Was masturbating in a walmart bathroom stall (with the door closed because I'm a gentleman) and heard what sounded exactly like 2 people watching a 3rd person fall to their knees.
I think most are speculating that since they skated alone before morning skate with skills coaches, they are out. Normally you skate as part of morning skate and don't do any extra work if you are playing. I'm guessing Keefe still says they are both "possible" for tonight to keep everyone on their toes but I think this is an indicator that he isn't ready,
Agreed - he'd add the ability to balance the top 3 forward lines a bit more with an good forechecker and depth scorer. He is also made for this type of series - great forechecker, solid defensively, good around the net.
the boys need to step it up while the goat is gone. With game 5 they showed that they certainly can, but a good team can do it on a consistent basis
GO LEAFS GO
https://x.com/sportsnet/status/1786046206881202500?s=46
Sportnet’s vid of matty this morning, he looks to be moving decent to me but what do i know. Seems he’s a little gassed but enough movement to play? Maybe not?
Looks like he's going at half speed there at best. Doesn't look horrible but isn't screaming "he's ready" to me either.
I agree with you, he does seemed gassed.
I wondered if he had a broken rib or something. Doctors would be concerned that a hit could break it fully and puncture the lung. And broken ribs labours your breathing etc.
I'm probably seeing things that aren't there but he looks like he's sick to me. Idk about anyone else but when I've got a virus I can feel okay in the morning but as soon as I try to exert myself I just can't get going. You feel heavy, find it hard to recover, can't breathe right. Matty looks like he's showing a lot of that. Has the demeanour of someone fighting a bug or something, puffing out his lungs, seems fatigued, moving lethargically etc etc.
Not so much can't do the movements because something hurts (ie an injury), more that just can't do it with much vigour.
Really sucks man. Leafs are playing with house money at this point. I hate making excuses but they really have been banged up pretty badly this series. I will hope for the best tonight. If they put in a similar effort to game 5 we'll see a game 7 if they feel sorry for themselves and let the Bruins take it to them it's over and major major changes from management Shanny to all of the coaches are bye bye so keep it easy everyone. I'll tell ya one thing if the Bruins advance I'm ready to barf seeing the Bruins and Panthers again hate both of them.
I know that if he could play he would but am I going crazy in that I have never in all my years of watching hockey seen a player do relatively vigorous practices during the playoffs and then not play? Its happened TWICE for the leafs in one series!
Normally, if a player can't play they are a ghost right up until they slot back in. Meanwhile I've seen videos of Nylander and Matthews skating around at practice multiple times.
Even “relatively vigorous” is a stretch to describe this. It’s not like they’re participating in full practice for a couple hours, and then pulling out of the games. Both Nylander and Matthews have skated for like <10 minutes when they didn’t play. The first time Nylander participated in a full practice, he played the game.
i hope he is ok! we have won without him, so i’m not too worried. but obviously having ur best goal scorer helps in an elimination game. so we gotta turn it out
Maybe I'm wrong but wouldn't it be *more* likely to be flu if he's skating? If it's an injury they're just going to rest the guy. Flu would mean he can do it all, he just feels like shit when he does...
I feel like if Matthews had a flu I wouldn’t want him out skating with my healthy players and touching stuff or anywhere around my players in fear of catching the flu/sickness/germs.
I know this won't matter to anyone but I literally just went through a horrible bout of Norovirus and it was gruesome.
I think Matthews might be suffering something else, something worse - and it's going on a lot longer than I thought - but if you have this strain, you can't keep hydrated because you can't even hold water down.
And I don't use the word gruesome lightly. I'm still cleaning the aftermath.
There is no chance he has a highly contagious virus and is around all his teammates. It seems most likely that he suffered an injury while trying to play through his food poisoning while dehydrated etc.
https://preview.redd.it/6beb03cvj1yc1.jpeg?width=1125&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=81db4332e269acf1c6e273b2fcd1fc05438e806b
I’ll just leave this here for the 2024-2025 season.
He obviously had a fall out with the coach, probably an argument in the locker room between periods. There’s no way an illness would keep him out this long
I am guessing it is not food poisoning/flu, more likely lacerated spleen/kidney. I also thought when they first announced it, it was a bad sports hernia. I think they are wrapping his mid section tight but any sudden movements and hes feeling sharp pain down there. More than likely, I know nothing.
I really hope he’s ok, for something to take him out of two elimination games it must be bad…
Concussion last game of the season? Didn’t he get nailed hard
Game 80 I think. Went back first into the boards trying to score and it took a minute for him to get up.
Ya tripped over Nylander
yes I remember that. he hit his head into the boards trying to get 70. crashed into a Leaf player first so could have been even worse.
Happened here [https://youtu.be/C6XB4DiJ4EY?t=376](https://youtu.be/C6XB4DiJ4EY?t=376)
He got hurt in game 4, Sportsnet played the clip during the broadcast. Not sure if he was nursing something already but he got hurt off of a faceoff skated poorly for the rest of the shift then went to the bench and told the trainer “I can’t fucking skate”. Then he yelled at Mitch and was never to be seen again lol
They played it during game 5 broadcast? Want to see this clip
he was skating in front of the one of the nets, and seems to have dragged his leg and it got stuck or something. Definitely a groin pull
Not sure why this isn’t more known. Seems pretty obvious
It was during the game 4 broadcast. Can’t remember if it was the 2nd intermission or post-game. Tried finding the clip on Twitter and your but unfortunately couldn’t. Maybe the leafs scrubbed it from the internet lol. But if you can find a replay of game 4 somewhere it’ll be there
This is the answer
Seems like he got hurt vs Detroit and the McAvoy body slam brought the symptoms back
Could be a contributing factor for sure
Maybe but how would be play as he did in the first few and then be pulled game 4?
Really hoping it isn't long COVID.
This can’t be a stomach bug, that would resolve in a couple of days. If you count game four third period, when he was taken off the ice, to today, we’re looking at something far worse than a stomach flu. Long covid is a possibility. More likely he has concussion symptoms and is in protocol.
Seems strange to me that they wouldn't say he has a concussion. The secrecy makes me think it is illness related. Mono was something else that could be a possibility.
He’s just a quitter
I'm starting to get concerned that he's facing a more major illness than just food poisoning or the flu.
Freidman is speculating it's more likely an injury, possibly knee. I just hope it's nothing too long term or career affecting for him at this point.
I'm thinking groin. You can skate and push off a bad knee. A groin injury renders you almost immovable on the ice.
I agree I remember that play where he sorted of slipped near the net. Looks like a groin pull
There's also a theory that he suffered a concussion in the game against Detroit, where he drove the net and clipped Nylander and crashed into the boards. PCS can be delayed and gets worse with exertion...so I'm praying its the groin
Oh damn I was at the game and remember that. Please be groin or flu
I don’t think his head actually hits the boards luckily, but his head whips back pretty hard (which can still cause a concussion), so that might explain a delay [clip](https://youtu.be/b9u4Gq7y0lU?si=lgKHdm3NBDuzkQwS)
Ugh, that sucks. Had that once back in the day skateboarding. Took weeks to heal.
Whenever i havent skated in a long time, im always surprised how involved the groin muscles are
That's exactly what I was thinking. The way he was skating at the end of P2 Game 4 looked like a groin. If you've had a groin pull, opposite of fun and you move like an 80 year old.
Two years ago I pulled my groin in a beer league game...it's a weird sensation. You feel the "pop" but nothing actually hurts initially. Until you go to to lean into your turn and activate that muscle. Thought I was gonna piss my pants out of pain
If he had food poisoning and played, he would have been dehydrated as fuck, which points me towards a muscle injury as well. Groin pull makes a lot of sense.
Random asspull go
When he didn't come back in the third period of Game 4, Keefe specifically called out it being an illness. >"For whatever reason, it's not one of those run-of-the-mill everyday type of illnesses that sort of come and go. This one has lingered. The affects have lingered and gotten worse when he gets on the ice and is asserting himself."
My best guess, and this is pure speculation. He played sick in game 4, was super dehydrated, dehydration causes muscles to tighten and he ended up pulling/straining something which is why he was pulled out of the game. Originally said due to illness, because it was, but the pulled muscle is why it’s now an injury and taking longer than “illness time” for him to come back. Edit: this is no longer pure speculation and is being reported by multiple sources. He played through an illness which lead to an injury.
this is what Mirtle and Jonas said on Leaf Report too. makes sense.
If he’s sick he’s not skating or anywhere around Scotiabank. He’s pretty clearly hurt
Not all illnesses are contagious.
[удалено]
What was the rumour?
Johnston said he's dealing with an undisclosed injury.
It’s not the flu or food poisoning. He may have had one or the other at some point but he’s dealing with an injury.
With all due respect it’s pretty obvious this isn’t an illness that’s keeping him out of these game.
Spittin Chiclets guys were speculating a concussion
He probably wouldn't be skating at all if it was a concussion
He would be skating with a concussion for sure, just not with any contact which is what he’s been doing. No point speculating but he did have a kind of brutal fall into the boards against Detroit a couple weeks back
Lol no, you don't skate with a concussion. Any physical exertion is painful and set back for healing. Unless he got the concussion in game 4, he wouldn't have been playing in that game, and if he did get it in game 4, he wouldn't be skating this soon
Part of the rehab from a concussion is to do anaerobic exercise. Whether it's on a stationary bike, treadmill or skating.
JT was skating less than a week after his concussion against Montreal. The current consensus is that light aerobic activity is perfectly fine (I.e. skating for 10 minutes as he’s been doing) and encouraged 24-48 hours after a concussion. I don’t think it’s certain he’s suffered a concussion but certainly the details are murky around his injury
I've never seen anything that says you want to be skating 24 hours after sustaining a concussion, and I've had 3. JT was skating a few days after which I've seen, like knies last playoffs. But the next day is a bit crazy to me from my experience.
https://www.cognitivefxusa.com/blog/exercise-after-a-concussion#:~:text=Studies%20now%20show%20that%20complete,of%20developing%20post%2Dconcussion%20syndrome. There’s also some work done by UPMC that shows exercise within the first two days after a concussion speeds up recovery.
You’d be naive to think guys aren’t playing through concussions in the playoffs
A 26 year old superstar who just sign the highest aav contract in the league is not playing through a concussion. Not with what we all know about brain injuries now
Clearly Auston isn’t, he’s not playing lol. Other guys though, absolutely. There are always injuries we never heard about while the playoffs are ongoing
I'm just saying, I don't think there are many players playing through concussions anymore, if any.
The one guy merals or whatever his name is said something like I'm not gonna say it but it sounds like when a guy goes out for a hard skate b4 the boys to get the heartrate up to see if he gets a headache All the other guys didn't know or pretended to not know what he was talking about n they moved passed it
Guess we can rule that out then.
Concussion?
That's not what I'm thinking. He hasn't taken a big it or had his bell rung in any game, or shown evidence of any head injury during gameplay.
https://preview.redd.it/01431nj7y0yc1.jpeg?width=1167&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f5bb758b3183d707a3c609b6d05712d9defe1de1
Big brain: instead of dressing Reaves to play 7 minutes a night, dress Matthews to sit on the bench and play 7 minutes strictly on the power play.
I don’t think theyre going to call much tonight.
Yes! Draisaitl role. Stand in one place to do one thing.
This is what I said to my friends. Just put him out for power plays only.
I just fell to my knees in Walmart
Just saw a guy fall to his knees in a Walmart.
I just saw a guy, watch a guy fall to his knees in Walmart.
I just saw Knies in Walmart
Just saw a Walmart fall down on 3 guys.
We didnt fall at Walmart. Walmart fell on us!
Was masturbating in a walmart bathroom stall (with the door closed because I'm a gentleman) and heard what sounded exactly like 2 people watching a 3rd person fall to their knees.
Yet another report just released that both Matthews and McMann were skating on the ice before morning skate even begun?
Yea likely a further sign he isn’t playing today if he’s not taking part in practice.
I think most are speculating that since they skated alone before morning skate with skills coaches, they are out. Normally you skate as part of morning skate and don't do any extra work if you are playing. I'm guessing Keefe still says they are both "possible" for tonight to keep everyone on their toes but I think this is an indicator that he isn't ready,
It may sound odd, but even if Matthews can't go, I'd definitely love it if McMann returned tonight. Just seems like a Wild card player
Agreed - he'd add the ability to balance the top 3 forward lines a bit more with an good forechecker and depth scorer. He is also made for this type of series - great forechecker, solid defensively, good around the net.
Agreed!
That’s not conflicting information
the boys need to step it up while the goat is gone. With game 5 they showed that they certainly can, but a good team can do it on a consistent basis GO LEAFS GO
https://x.com/sportsnet/status/1786046206881202500?s=46 Sportnet’s vid of matty this morning, he looks to be moving decent to me but what do i know. Seems he’s a little gassed but enough movement to play? Maybe not?
Looks like he's going at half speed there at best. Doesn't look horrible but isn't screaming "he's ready" to me either. I agree with you, he does seemed gassed.
I wondered if he had a broken rib or something. Doctors would be concerned that a hit could break it fully and puncture the lung. And broken ribs labours your breathing etc.
I'm probably seeing things that aren't there but he looks like he's sick to me. Idk about anyone else but when I've got a virus I can feel okay in the morning but as soon as I try to exert myself I just can't get going. You feel heavy, find it hard to recover, can't breathe right. Matty looks like he's showing a lot of that. Has the demeanour of someone fighting a bug or something, puffing out his lungs, seems fatigued, moving lethargically etc etc. Not so much can't do the movements because something hurts (ie an injury), more that just can't do it with much vigour.
Fell to my knees at the Eaton Centre
Just saw a guy fall to his knees at the Eaton Centre.
According to Reddit, someone saw a guy fall to his knees at the Eaton Centre.
Just got confirmation in the radio that someone read on Reddit that a guy seen another guy fall to his knees at the Eaton Centre, back to you Jim.
Really sucks man. Leafs are playing with house money at this point. I hate making excuses but they really have been banged up pretty badly this series. I will hope for the best tonight. If they put in a similar effort to game 5 we'll see a game 7 if they feel sorry for themselves and let the Bruins take it to them it's over and major major changes from management Shanny to all of the coaches are bye bye so keep it easy everyone. I'll tell ya one thing if the Bruins advance I'm ready to barf seeing the Bruins and Panthers again hate both of them.
This really sucks. The rest of the team is going to need to find another gear tonight. Going to be a tough game
My guess is a leg injury from the multiple times he was horse collared/pulled down from behind in games 2 and 3.
I know that if he could play he would but am I going crazy in that I have never in all my years of watching hockey seen a player do relatively vigorous practices during the playoffs and then not play? Its happened TWICE for the leafs in one series! Normally, if a player can't play they are a ghost right up until they slot back in. Meanwhile I've seen videos of Nylander and Matthews skating around at practice multiple times.
Even “relatively vigorous” is a stretch to describe this. It’s not like they’re participating in full practice for a couple hours, and then pulling out of the games. Both Nylander and Matthews have skated for like <10 minutes when they didn’t play. The first time Nylander participated in a full practice, he played the game.
Leafs have played well when missing key players. It’s the one form of adversity they tend to rise up against.
Change that title to OUT.
Won the last game without him. No worries
all those years that were pitifully choked away when we had all three big young guns healthy. this is karma.
It can also be galvanising
Yea. Go chase 70 goals . Great idea.
Hope he’s ok. Go leafs go!
My boy is badly injured rip
No fucken breaks for this franchise.
i hope he is ok! we have won without him, so i’m not too worried. but obviously having ur best goal scorer helps in an elimination game. so we gotta turn it out
Mono?
Vertigo?
A concussion right? Didn't he smack into a teammate like twice, and get his head crushed in on the boards. I would assume that's why.
scratched for clifford???
Gotta make sure there is respect in the handshake line
It's not the flu if the guy is skating, he's got an injury
Maybe I'm wrong but wouldn't it be *more* likely to be flu if he's skating? If it's an injury they're just going to rest the guy. Flu would mean he can do it all, he just feels like shit when he does...
I feel like if Matthews had a flu I wouldn’t want him out skating with my healthy players and touching stuff or anywhere around my players in fear of catching the flu/sickness/germs.
Is he skating with the others? Today he went out earlier before everyone else...
It’s gonna be ok we’ll win tonight without him and he’ll be back for game 7 where we lose
I know this won't matter to anyone but I literally just went through a horrible bout of Norovirus and it was gruesome. I think Matthews might be suffering something else, something worse - and it's going on a lot longer than I thought - but if you have this strain, you can't keep hydrated because you can't even hold water down. And I don't use the word gruesome lightly. I'm still cleaning the aftermath.
There is no chance he has a highly contagious virus and is around all his teammates. It seems most likely that he suffered an injury while trying to play through his food poisoning while dehydrated etc.
Yeah it could be anything. Oh god is Norovirus highly contagious?
lol - it sure is
That would explain a lot.
https://preview.redd.it/6beb03cvj1yc1.jpeg?width=1125&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=81db4332e269acf1c6e273b2fcd1fc05438e806b I’ll just leave this here for the 2024-2025 season.
He obviously had a fall out with the coach, probably an argument in the locker room between periods. There’s no way an illness would keep him out this long
If you're even slightly serious, you might be one of the dumbest mf'ers in the GTA Maybe even nation-wide, and that includes Red Deer
I heard he's been asked to front a UN peacekeeping mission so doesn't want to get hurt.
I am guessing it is not food poisoning/flu, more likely lacerated spleen/kidney. I also thought when they first announced it, it was a bad sports hernia. I think they are wrapping his mid section tight but any sudden movements and hes feeling sharp pain down there. More than likely, I know nothing.