Toronto Maple Leafs superstar center Auston Matthews took the ice for the club's optional morning skate on Saturday. But when will he return to game action? Perhaps Toronto Maple Leafs’ Auston Matthews’ biggest fans, “The Matthews Guys,” finally met their favorite player ahead of the club’s Friday night matchup with the Detroit Red Wings. As posted by the Maple Leafs on Instagram, Matthews, despite not playing due to an upper-body injury, met with the group of 10 pre-game – posing for a picture and brief conversation. [embed]https://www.instagram.com/p/p:DCIAvmWRBvC[/embed] Per “thematthewsguys” [https://www.instagram.com/thematthewsguys/] Instagram account, the group has been traveling to watch Matthews since the 2017 season. One fan commented under the post on Friday, “Sat behind these guys in Tampa last year when Matthews was chasing No. 70. Great group of true fans!” It’s safe to say they’ve made their round trips in the previous years. More recently, the group which is normally the size of eight fans, attended the Leafs’ game against the New Jersey Devils to witness the club’s home opener and the first matchup with former Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe. [embed]https://www.instagram.com/p/p:DBHJ0FdPHUp[/embed] The group has also made the trip to watch Matthews and the Leafs in the 2023 Global Series in Sweden and trips to Florida, Buffalo, and Toronto in 2024. On Friday, as pointed out by David Alter of The Hockey News, the group was expanded to 10 with two additional fans repping Matthews’ No. 34 as the last name only works out to eight. Although Matthews didn’t suit up for the game, the 27-year-old still took time to connect with the fans, meeting and greeting them at Scotiabank Arena. Besides, the club did still earn a victory over the Red Wings, winning 3-1. Likely, this won’t be the last time the superfans are spotted and hopefully, they see their favorite player return to the ice soon.
