Don Cherry calls out the Toronto Maple Leafs for their controversial captaincy change this off-season

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Tom Banks
October 15, 2024 (7:02 PM)

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The Toronto Maple Leafs named Auston Matthews captain this past off-season, and while many were happy with the move, Don Cherry isn't among them.

The start of the 2024/25 season has been a solid one for the Toronto Maple Leafs, with the team fixing an early hole identified by Head Coach Craig Berube, with victories in two straight games since that point. It was a long off-season for Toronto after yet another first-round exit, and with many additions to the team such as Chris Tanev, Anthony Stolarz and Oliver Ekman-Larsson, there was optimism for them heading into the new season.

One move that shocked many around the NHL was their captaincy change, as the team named Auston Matthews captain, stripping John Tavares in the process. For the most part, the reaction to this move has been positive, but one person that disagrees with that is Don Cherry, who has called the move a 'slap in the face' to John Tavares.

I think they sat down and said 'We need a new captain.' I really believe they went to Tavares and they said 'Look we'll give you another couple years...' It is a slap in the face, I don't care what anybody says. To take the captaincy off of one player and give it to another, there's something wrong somewhere." - Don Cherry

While early reports revealed that the team stripped Tavares of the captaincy, it has since been confirmed that Tavares happily handed the C off to Matthews, with No. 34 revealing how well the former captain has handled everything.

«After he let me know and everything, I told him I was shaking," Matthews was quoted as saying by NHL.com. "I had chills.

For him to call me and kind of let me know that he wanted to pass on the captaincy to me was very emotional. I felt a lot of things, but it's truly an honor."

Ultimately, it appears those within the organization were happy with how things went, and given that Matthews is locked in for years to come, he was always the best choice to lead this team moving forward, and now we will wait and see whether or not this helps them at the most important time of year.