With the news of Auston Matthews new captaincy of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Toronto SickKids Foundation has endorsed Matthews and sent their congratulations.
Matthews along with the Maple Leafs organization has been integral regarding the Foundation as it was reported by Nick Barden of The Hockey News when the team decided to visit the hospital in 2023. It was the first time they had visited the facility since the COVID-19 pandemic. Prior to this visit the team was doing their visits through zoom calls.
At the time, Matthews spoke about how the visit had affected him as he spoke with kids and staff members.
"I think it's always a very powerful visit. Not only for the kids but for the players as well," Auston Matthews said following practice on Tuesday.
Matthews has seen a close family member go through cystic fibrosis that ended up taking his life; Bill Matthews his uncle was the man who introduced him to the game of hockey and ended up passing away from the disease in his 30s.
"Honestly it started with my dad. Both of my parents encouraged me to get involved, something involving the community and just did research and found SickKids and all the great work that they do in general,"
"But having a connection with cystic fibrosis everything just kind of made sense and the stars aligned and we're able to meet some great people over there and just kind of build and form a relationship."
It's safe to say that Matthews will always be the main spokesperson for the Maple Leafs and the Sick Kids Foundation and now being appointed captain it will broaden his influence even more.
