By Mark Pyzyk



Everyone has an Auston Matthews moment. Elliotte Friedman, the veteran hockey reporter with Rogers Sportsnet, had his during a pre-game warm-up two years ago, when the rookie centre from Arizona was skating by himself at the World Cup of Hockey.



He collected a puck from the net and curled toward the corner, following the boards back up to the blue line. Matthews cradled the puck with unusual ease, toying with it for a moment before maneuvering the tip of his blade like a lacrosse stick, whipping the puck around his body in stride.



“I could try that 50,000 times,” Friedman told Sportsnet radio, “if I did it once, it would be a miracle.”



There was another moment in that tournament, when Matthews was playing next to Connor McDavid, in the first shift of a game against Sweden. Matthews fell to his knees in the offensive zone, but he kept control of the puck, outfoxing one Swedish defender with a blinding quick deke...