Sheldon Keefe reveals concerning details about Auston Matthews illness

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Liam McCormick
April 28, 2024 (11:22)

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The Toronto Maple Leafs are in full blown disaster meltdown melt-down mode. Last night they fell 3-1 in their series with the Bruins, and Auston Matthews was removed with illness. Today, coach Keefe explained some concerning details about the illness.

For whatever reason, it's not one of those run-of-the-mill everyday type of illnesses that sort of come and go. This one has lingered. The affects have lingered and gotten worse when he gets on the ice and is asserting himself."

Keefe's comments don't provide much hope for Matthews to get back to 100% health while the Leafs still have a chance in the playoffs. Already without Matthews fully healthy, the Leafs are clearly suffering enough. Through four games in the series, Matthews has only once had an elite game, and has only scored 1 goal and 3 points in 4 games. As Keefe mentioned, Matthews simply can't assert himself on the ice.

The Maple Leafs look like they're going to go down as a massive disappointment once again. As has been the case in previous playoff failures, the stars simply haven't shown up to win them games after demanding to be the highest paid players in the league. Instead, tensions finally seemed to boil over on the bench as the star players bickered with one another, seemingly with Marner as the target of criticism.

With these details emerging, and the Leafs stars seemingly coming apart at the seams on the bench, there is almost no hope that they can come back and make this a close series. Even if they were to force a game 7, who one earth would trust this team to actually win? Like the end of every Leafs season, there's simply more questions than answers.