It was while watching the Arizona Coyotes where one of the greatest NHL players of this generation fell in love with the game of hockey.
Over a decade ago, one boy fell in love with the game of hockey by watching the Arizona Coyotes.
That boy was Toronto Maple Leafs superstar center Auston Matthews who is officially the highest paid player in the NHL after he received a four-year $53 million contract extension worth $13.25 million a year on Wednesday.
Many might have forgotten that Matthews actually grew up in Arizona and credits the Coyotes for the reason he ultimately decided to get into hockey.
“The Coyotes are the reason I started playing hockey,” Matthews said in an interview with Sportsnet in 2016. “We’re pretty fortunate to have them in the Valley.”
Matthews took an untraditional route playing his youth hockey years in Arizona for the Jr. Coyotes and the Arizona Bobcats. It wasn’t until 2017 when Matthews left Arizona to play for the U.S. National Team Developmental Program.
While Matthews didn’t necessarily play for the strongest youth teams growing up, his extended time playing in Arizona helped his development.
"It was not that big of importance to play for Double-A or Triple-A," Matthews’ childhood coach and mentor Boris Dorozhenko said via ESPN’s Josh Weinfuss. "For him, it was important to put all of his heart into this game, and be successful on any team. And he showed that. He's become a big leader. I think those years in Double-A were very positive for him because he built his confidence. Yeah, extremely big confidence he built."
Arizona has never been known for its hockey but Matthews helped further put the desert on the map as a place where professional hockey players really can develop.
"Every person that says, 'Hey, you're not going to make it, you're from Arizona. You're not from a real hockey place, you're not from Minnesota, you're not from Canada,' he put a face on the contrary to that argument," former Coyotes CEO and president Ahron Cohen said. "Now these kids growing up can say, 'I want to be the next Auston Matthews.'"
Matthew’s story shows the importance the Coyotes have to Arizona. Without the Coyotes being around, maybe the world would never get to see Matthews play in the NHL or even the sport of hockey at all for that matter.