'No Chance' American-Born Matthew Knies Cheers for Canada at the World Juniors, Even with Maple Leafs Prospects Fraser Minten and Easton Cowan on the Team
Minten and Cowan are the Maple Leafs' only prospects participating in the 2024 World Juniors in Gothenberg, Sweden.
As the media filed into the Maple Leafs' dressing room following their morning skate on Wednesday, something felt different.
Instead of the normal backdrop of Toronto's logo on the screens at the back-end of the room, the team had the World Juniors playing.
One player glued to the screen: Matthew Knies.
"[I watch] a pretty decent amount," he said on Wednesday morning. "I watched the Americans last night. I have some old teammates that I have on that team, so it's just fun to watch them play, and yeah, it's an exciting time of year."
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tSZ98uvEb8[/embed]
The 21-year-old played five games for the United States at the tournament in 2022. It was technically six, but the tournament was cancelled in late-2021 due to the COVID-19 outbreaks on several teams.
Knies remembers the tournament especially well given Team USA's rivals, Canada, won gold that year. Though this time around, two of his Maple Leafs counterparts in Fraser Minten, who's the captain of Team Canada, and Easton Cowan are in the tournament.
So, because of that, could he be cheering for Canada a bit?
"No chance," Knies laughed.
"I'll cheer for them, but I can't cheer for Team Canada. They won it the year I went, so yeah, it's just a bad taste in my mouth. But I'm happy for them, I'm happy for [Minten], too, to become a captain. That's pretty special. But yeah, I won't be cheering for Canada."
Knies later continued, saying he hopes the two do well, but not during any games against Team USA.
"I want them to do well, but not beat the US. Just good enough, but not better than any of the guys on the US," he jokingly added.
One player on the Maple Leafs who does have fond memories of playing in the World Juniors is Max Domi. He won the tournament when it was played in Toronto back in 2015, scoring 10 points in seven games.
That Canadian team had the likes of Connor McDavid, Brayden Point, Shea Theodore, and Darnell Nurse.
"A pretty epic team," Domi said.
"I look back at that as one of my, probably, fondest hockey memories of my life. It was great to win gold and then be a part of Team Canada, but even better to do it in your backyard."
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_yGKKLQy1g[/embed]
Domi even remembers the stall he sat in during the tournament, which was held at Scotiabank Arena.
"[It was] Calle Jarnkrok's. I already told him, we beat the Swedes when I was in that locker. He didn't like that comment," Domi said with a grin.
If there's anything all of the Maple Leafs could agree on, it's that they're happy to see Minten being the captain of Team Canada.
"Obviously Fraser, being the captain, is going to be pretty special for him," Domi said.
Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe added the same sentiments, adding that it wasn't "surprising" that the 19-year-old was named captain.
[It's a] tremendous honor and recognition for him. Credit to the character that he has," Keefe said on Wednesday after the team's morning skate.
"He's an impressive young man and you never quite know how it's all going to work out, I'm not overly connected of what's happening with the team and the players and all that, but you're not surprised that he's able to make that type of impression on his teammates and coaches."
Related
News from THN.com