Apple podcast title, Austin Matthews, from the
desert to Olympic gold, the deep dive. How did
a kid from Arizona who grew up fascinated by
Zambonis become the defining hockey player of
his generation? In this deep dive, we unpack
the unprecedented rise of Austin Matthews. From
his unconventional path through the Swiss Pro
League to shattering Toronto Maple Leafs franchise
records and hitting a historic 69 -goal season,
we cover it all. We also explore his crowning
achievement. captaining Team USA to their first
Olympic gold since 1980 at the 2026 Winter Olympics.
Whether you are a diehard NHL fan or just love
a story of defying the odds, this deep dive explores
the making of a modern sports icon. Keywords,
Austin Matthews, Toronto Maple Leafs, Team USA,
Olympic gold 2026, NHL history 69 goals, hockey,
heart trophy, USA hockey. Welcome back to the
Deep Dive. Today we have a pretty specific mission.
We do. We're taking you on a journey through
the comprehensive 2026 Wikipedia biography of
a true modern sports icon. Yeah, and it's a completely
fascinating read. It really is. Our mission today
is to uncover how an athlete from a, well, a
completely non -traditional hockey market redefined
modern goal scoring. How he shattered decades
-old records and just recently brought Olympic
glory back to the United States. Which is still
hard to believe. I know. We are, of course, talking
about Austen Matthews. Okay, let's unpack this
because the sheer improbability of this story
is just wild. It really is. We're talking about
a kid born in California, right? Raised in Scottsdale,
Arizona. His mother, Ema, is from Mexico. And
she knew absolutely nothing about hockey when
he started. Right, which is obviously not your
typical origin story for an NHL superstar. I
mean, usually we hear about kids leasing up skates
on frozen ponds in Ontario or Minnesota before
they can even walk. Exactly. And his initial
attraction to the sport wasn't even the game
itself. When he went to local Phoenix Coyotes
games as a toddler, he didn't care about the
players. He was just mesmerized watching the
Zamboni clean the ice during the... He just liked
the big machine. Yeah, he just liked the big
truck driving around the ice. Well, what's fascinating
here is that this isn't just a traditional sports
story. It's really a study in unconventional
development. Yeah. Because when you look at the
massive scope of his achievements by age 28,
shattering the salary cap era goal record, becoming
the Leafs' all -time leading scorer, and captaining
Team USA to their first gold since the miracle
on ice in 1980, you realize none of this happened.
Because he followed the standard hockey playbook.
No, he practically rewrote it from scratch. And
to understand how he rewrote it, I want to look
at his childhood. Because hockey wasn't even
necessarily his best sport early on. I was reading
that his dad said baseball was actually his strongest
game. That's right. He had this elite, off -the
-charts hand -eye coordination, which made him
just an unbelievable hitter in baseball. So why
didn't we see him in the MLB? Well, he ended
up quitting baseball for a very simple reason.
He thought it was just too slow. Too slow. Yeah,
he needed the pace of hockey. But the thing is,
he didn't leave baseball behind entirely. He
brought the mechanics of the batter's box right
onto the ice. Wait, how does a baseball swing
translate to an ice hockey shot? That seems like
two totally different physics equations. It's
all in the hands and the torque. So because he
played baseball, Matthews developed this. Totally
unique ability to change the angle of his hockey
stick blade at the very last millisecond. Oh,
wow. Yeah. Before he shoots, he practically drags
the puck closer to his own feet, pulling it inward,
which completely changes the release point. And
that throws the goalie off. It completely blindsides
the goaltender because they are tracking the
puck's original path. That incredible hand -eye
coordination from baseball. is the literal secret
sauce to his release. That is wild. He's basically
throwing a curveball with a hockey stick. And
there's this incredible anecdote about where
his true hockey obsession sparked. Oh, the 2006
game. Yes, January 16, 2006. Eight -year -old
Austin Matthews is sitting in the stands at a
Coyotes game against the Washington Capitals.
And he actually witnesses in person Alexander
Ovechkin score what is now universally known
as the goal. The goal. Every hockey fan knows
exactly what you're talking about. Right. Ovechkin
gets knocked down, slides on his back, reaches
over his own head, and somehow hooks the puck
into the net completely blind. Yeah, and Matthews
is in the building for that. He's right there.
He later called it one of the best goals ever.
And that inspiration gets channeled into a training
environment that frankly sounds like a movie
script. Because he isn't playing in freezing
Canadian arenas. He's in the Arizona desert.
And his main youth coach is a man named Boris
Doroshenko. And Doroshenko's background is a
story in itself. Yeah. He is a Ukrainian coach
who had previously founded the National Ice Hockey
Program of Mexico. Wait, the National Hockey
Program of Mexico? Exactly. And when he came
to the U .S., he actually lived with Matthew's
paternal grandparents for his first few years.
So think about this melting pot of influences.
It's crazy. You have the intense hand -eye coordination
mechanics borrowed from baseball, layered with
a Ukrainian coach who built Mexico's hockey program,
all operating out of the Arizona desert. So what
did Doroshenko actually teach him that was so
different from like a standard Canadian hockey
camp? Well, Doroshenko's methods were highly
unorthodox. He wouldn't just have kids skate
up and down the ice. He focused obsessively on
edge work. on balance and skating in incredibly
tight spaces. Almost like figure skating. Exactly.
It's almost like figure skating drills with a
puck. That hyper -unique foundation is exactly
what built Matthew's lethal adaptability. It
really makes you think, doesn't it? We are often
told there's a right way to move up the ladder
no matter what industry you are in. But Matthews
proves that sometimes the biggest competitive
advantage you can possibly have comes from being
completely outside the traditional system. Totally.
Pulling from diverse disciplines, finding mentors
in unexpected places, that is what creates a
completely unique skill set. Absolutely. And
if you think his youth hockey path was unusual,
his transition to the pros is completely unprecedented.
Here's where it gets really interesting. As he
approaches his NHL draft eligibility, he discovers
he missed the 2015 NHL draft cutoff date. And
he didn't miss it by months. He missed it by
two days. Two days. Yeah. His birthday is September
17th and the cutoff is September 15th. Which
is a massive sliding doors moment. Normally a
North American phenom in his position would just
play Canadian major junior hockey for another
year. They'd go dominate a league full of 16
and 17 year olds or they go play in the NCAA.
But he doesn't do either of those things. At
age 17, he packs up and signs a professional
contract to play for the ZSC Lions in Switzerland's
top league. How on earth does a 17 -year -old
kid decide to move to Europe to play pro? Well,
the strategic brilliance of this move really
cannot be overstated. Instead of playing against
other teenagers in North America where he was
already physically and skillfully dominant, he
deliberately chose to bypass that system. He
wanted to play against fully grown professional
men in the Swiss National League A. That is a
huge risk, right? What if he went over there
and just got physically bullied by guys 10 years
older than him? It was a risk, but it was a very
calculated one. He was coached over there by
former NHL head coach Mark Crawford. Crawford
had actually scouted him at the Under -18 World
Championships and was just blown away by his
skating and puck possession. Playing in Switzerland
wasn't just a waiting room for the NHL. It was
a crucible. And he thrived in that crucible.
I mean, he won a Swiss Cup. He finished second
in the league's MVP voting. And he physically
prepared his body for the rigors of the National
Hockey League. Exactly. He learned how to battle
against adults in the corners, how to protect
the puck from veteran defensemen. It accelerated
his development by light years. Which perfectly
set the stage for his NHL arrival. So let's fast
forward to 2016. He is drafted first overall
by the Toronto Maple Leafs, the first American
to go number one since Patrick Kane in 2007.
Right. Now, there was a tiny bit of preseason
drama regarding contract bonuses with the legendary,
notoriously strict Leafs general manager Lou
Lamoriello. But they got it done the Toronto
way in about 10 minutes of negotiating. And then
we get to opening night, October 12, 2016. One
of the most famous debuts in the history of professional
sports. Matthews makes his NHL debut against
the Ottawa Senators and goaltender Craig Anderson.
Paint a picture for us what exactly happens in
this game. Well, the anticipation is sky high.
He's the savior of the Toronto Maple Leafs, a
franchise that has been starved for a superstar.
And in his very first game, he doesn't just score
a goal. He scores four goals. Four. In his first
ever NHL game. Yes. It made him the first player
in modern NHL history to do that in a debut.
And he wasn't just scoring lucky garbage goals.
His second goal of the night, he practically
pickpocketed an elite defenseman, Mark Stone,
skated past two other guys and sniped it. The
crowded Ottawa rival arena was just an absolute
shock. I can only imagine. His jersey instantly
became the highest selling in the league. That
four -goal debut must have put a massive target
on his back, though. It did, but it also instantly
shifted the center of gravity in the NHL. It
signaled the arrival of a generational talent.
He finished that rookie season with 40 goals,
taking home the Calder Memorial Trophy, which
is the league's top rookie award. Just as an
indicator of his sheer consistency right out
of the gate, he set an unofficial NHL record
by starting his career with a 103 -game streak
where he registered at least one shot on goal.
From day one, he was an offensive engine that
simply could not be turned off. He was a volume
shooter, but with sniper accuracy. And that engine
went into absolute overdrive as we moved into
the 2020s. Right. So we know he has this incredible
rookie debut. But there's a big gap between being
a great rookie and being a generational legend.
When does he make that leap into the stratosphere?
That really crystallizes in the 2021 to 2022
season. He puts up a 60 -goal season. He takes
home the Hart Trophy, which is the league MVP,
but he also wins the Ted Lindsay Award. And the
Ted Lindsay is arguably even more special, right?
Many players say it is because that one is voted
on by the players you actually skate against
every night. It's the ultimate sign of pure respect.
But even 60 goals wasn't his ceiling. I want
to really dive into the 2023 to 2024 season because
this is where the records just shatter. He opens
that season with back to back hat tricks. Then
in February, the All -Star Game is hosted in
Toronto and he serves as a team captain alongside
Canadian pop singer Justin Bieber. Which is just
a surreal pop culture crossover moment. Totally.
Team Matthews wins the tournament and Matthews
takes home the All -Star MVP, the first Leaf
to do that in 33 years. But the defining number
of that season. The one that cemented his legacy
is 69. Wait, 69 goals? In modern hockey, how
is that even possible with today's goaltending
and defensive systems? If we connect this to
the bigger picture, the magnitude of 69 goals
in the modern NHL is staggering. Goalies today
are massive. They wear highly engineered pads,
and teams play complex defensive traps. For context,
in the salary cap era, which began in 2005, Alexander
Ovechkin held the record with 65 goals. Matthews
blew past that. So he beat his childhood idols'
modern record. Yes. In fact, 69 goals was the
most scored by any NHL player in 28 years. You
have to go all the way back to Mario Lemieux
in the 1995 to 1996 season to find a number that
high. Matthews was operating in a stratosphere
entirely his own. This pace also made him the
fastest Leaf to reach 500 points. And eventually,
by January 2026, he passed the legendary Matt
Sundin. to become the franchise's all -time leading
goal scorer. But of course, in Toronto, individual
records always clash with the immense suffocating
pressures of the Stanley Cup playoffs. And we
have to be balanced here. It was a roller coaster.
It wasn't all sunshine and trophies. Not at all.
For years, there was repeated first -round heartbreak.
Right. Surrendering a 3 -1 series lead to the
Montreal Canadiens in 2021, repeated devastating
Game 7 losses to the Boston Bruins. The Toronto
media market is ruthless, and the burden on Matthews
was heavy. People were questioning if he could
produce when the ice got smaller. But there were
massive breakthroughs, too. In 2023, he helped
lead the Leafs past the Tampa Bay Lightning,
scoring five goals in the series to end the franchise's
almost two -decade -long playoff series drought.
That was a huge monkey off his back. And then
in the 2025 playoffs, during a grueling second
-round series against the defending champion
Florida Panthers, Matthews scores the Game 6
winner in a tense 2 -0 victory to force a Game
7. He proved he could deliver under the most
intense pressure imaginable. And that proven
leadership ability culminated in the defining
peak of his career thus far, which brings us
to 2026. Let's look at the timeline here. In
August 2024, the Toronto Maple Leafs name him
captain. That is a massive deal. He becomes the
first American -born captain in the history of
that storied Canadian franchise. It's a huge
cultural shift for Toronto. And he takes that
leadership mandate directly into the 2026 Winter
Olympics in Milano Cortina. This is a monumental
event for international hockey with all the top
NHL stars finally returning to the Olympic stage.
And Matthews isn't just on the team. He is named
the captain of Team USA. Exactly. And he leads
them all the way to the gold medal game. And
who do they face? None other than Canada. You
literally cannot write a better script. It's
poetry. He's facing off against his longtime
Toronto teammate Mitch Marner, who is playing
for Canada. The tension in that building in Italy
was indescribable. It goes to overtime. Sudden
death for Olympic gold. And the U .S. pulls it
off. They win 2 -1 in overtime. This wasn't just
a victory. It was historic. It was Team USA's
first men's ice hockey Olympic gold medal since
1980. The miracle on ice. That is 46 years of
waiting. Captaining that team realized his status
not just as a great player, but as a generational
leader on the global stage. It's incredible.
But of course, when you win Olympic gold and
reach that level of global superstardom life
off the ice gets a lot more complex. You are
no longer just a hockey player. You are a public
figure navigating a very intense spotlight. True,
though, even his quiet moments are interesting.
During the 2020 lockdowns, for example, he retreated
to his hometown of Scottsdale and lived with
his then teammate Frederick Anderson. He got
a miniature Bernadette named Felix. I love that.
And. Showing that he's always looking to expand
his horizons, he actually enrolled in online
courses at the University of Nebraska Omaha.
But the spotlight always finds you, especially
when sports and global politics intersect. Of
course, when you win Olympic gold, you get the
White House invite. And in February 2026, that
visit came with some heavy political media coverage.
Exactly. Based on the reporting from the sources,
the team faced public backlash regarding the
inclusion of FBI Director Kash Patel at the event.
Additionally, President Trump made a joke suggesting
he might be impeached if he did not invite the
women's Olympic team. And Matthews found himself
right in the middle of a media scrum over this.
How did he handle it? Well, Matthews actually
didn't attend the State of the Union address,
but he did tour the White House with the majority
of his team. When reporters pressed him on it,
he publicly called the president's comments a
distasteful joke. However, he didn't boycott
the experience. He stated that it was an incredible
honor to tour the White House, and he made a
deliberate point to emphasize the shared respect
and excitement that existed between both the
men's and women's national teams. So what does
this all mean? For you listening, think about
the tightrope modern global athletes have to
walk today. They are balancing their own personal
convictions, their responsibility to represent
their team and their country, and an incredibly
intense 24 -7 public scrutiny where every single
quote is analyzed and politicized. It's the burden
of the captaincy, both for his NHL franchise
and his country. You are expected to be the voice
of reason, the offensive powerhouse, the diplomat,
and the cultural ambassador all at once. Matthew's
navigating that situation by standing by his
perspective on the joke while still honoring
the institutional achievement of the visit and
lifting up the women's team as a prime example
of the extreme diplomacy required of a modern
sports icon. It really is. And as we wrap up
this deep dive into his life and career up to
2026, I want to bring it back to the core theme
for you, the listener. It's a fascinating observation
on talent development. Unconventional paths can
lead to historic greatness. You do not have to
follow the traditional playbook. Right. You don't
have to play Canadian junior hockey if you have
the discipline to forge your own path against
adults in Switzerland. Exactly. You don't have
to grow up in a freezing climate to dominate
a winter sport if you're willing to combine baseball
mechanics with international coaching in the
Arizona desert. You can forge a completely new
paradigm. This raises an important question,
and it's one that goes far beyond sports. That's
right. Considering how Austin Matthews completely
broke the traditional mold coming from the desert
shaped by baseball mechanics and a Ukrainian
-Mexican coaching system to ultimately claim
the most historic records in a traditional winter
sport. How much untapped genius is sitting out
there in the world right now just waiting for
the right unorthodox environment to unlock it?
That is exactly what we want to leave you with
today. Thank you so much for joining us on this
deep dive. Keep looking for those unorthodox
paths in your own life. Keep questioning the
traditional systems, and we will catch you next
time.