'I Think It's Always A Powerful Visit': Maple Leafs' Auston Matthews Recognizes Impact Made When Making Appearances a SickKids
The team visited SickKids on Monday, marking the first time they've gone to the hospital since 2019 due to COVID-19 restrictions.
The Maple Leafs visited the children at SickKids this week and while it's always a great time for the kids, it was just as enjoyable for the players.
This was the first time the team has gone to the hospital since before the COVID-19 pandemic began. But the Maple Leafs organization has still met with the children at SickKids, with two years of Zoom appearances before having some of the patients attend a practice and meet the players last year.
"I think it’s always a very powerful visit. Not only for the kids but for the players as well," Auston Matthews said following practice on Tuesday.
For Matthews specifically, it has always hit home. His uncle, Bill Matthews, who introduced Auston to the game of hockey, passed away in his 30s due to cystic fibrosis.
Having that connection, plus wanting to get involved within the community when he was drafted to Toronto, it made perfect sense for Matthews to get involved with SickKids.
"Honestly it started with my dad. Both of my parents encouraged me to get involved, something involving the community and just did research and found SickKids and all the great work that they do in general," Matthews said.
"But having a connection with cystic fibrosis everything just kind of made sense and the stars aligned and we’re able to meet some great people over there and just kind of build and form a relationship."
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMHUV8Whm84[/embed]
The 26-year-old recently cameo'd in a fundraising ad for the children's hospital which also featured Canadian actor Ryan Reynolds and Canadian Grammy award-winning artist Michael Bublé.
Matthews said it was "pretty easy to hop on board" with the SickKids commercial, given what Reynolds had in mind for how everything would play out.
"Obviously him being who he is and being involved with the hospital as well being able to do some cool stuff to raise awareness and raise money for the hospital," he said.
"It was cool to be a part of his campaign in his commercial this year and I think it turned out really well, He’s obviously very good at what he does and is great with the comic side of it, he’s pretty brilliant."
When it comes to how many takes it took Matthews to get the right shot, the 26-year-old said it was more than once.
"I needed a lot," he said. "I mean it was slightly me and slightly the little girl that was screaming there. We had a couple of different takes for that. But she was great. It definitely took me by surprise that first scream. But we got it locked in and yeah it turned out pretty well."
Would he consider more acting roles in the future, such as a movie, after this and a few other commericals?
I wouldn’t be opposed to it at all," Matthews said. "I think as time’s gone on and you do more stuff like that you kind of get more comfortable and as you grow up a bit, get more comfortable in your own skin in those situations. So, a lot of times it can be a lot of fun, too."
Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe also discussed the visit to SickKids following Tuesday's practice. He said it's important for all of the players to recognize the significance of visiting the children's hospital and interacting with the patients there.
"There is tremendous value in it. It is important to recognize the impact that you can have. Auston certainly does that," Keefe said on Tuesday.
"There is the impact you can have and there is also keeping you grounded and recognizing the difficulties that others are going through. To be able to contribute, help, and give your time — to put smiles on people’s faces, or to raise money, or whatever it might be — is tremendous. In a market like this, there are so many different causes, and the players only have so much time to give.
"For someone like Auston, I see not just the public things like the SickKids and the appearances he makes but also so many things he does behind the scenes. I know he is making visits to hospitals with no cameras around and touching base with kids. He is constantly recording messages and sending out messages to people, wishing them well."
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