Gavin McKenna Obliterated The First Corner Of His NHL Career, And It's All Thanks To Having A Sleepover At Auston Matthews' House
Kevin Sousa. Getty Images.When you're a 1st overall pick in the NHL, everybody just expects you to be a superstar right away. Guys like Crosby and Ovechkin came into the league and took over right from the start. McDavid was a wizard before an injury shortened his rookie season. The last time the Toronto Maple Leafs had a 1st overall pick make his NHL debut, Auston Matthews scored 4 goals in a single game.
So Gavin McKenna going without a goal or an assist in the first 3 games of his career? Well the Toronto media was ready to light this kid up for being a bust already. I'm sure there was a movement getting underway somewhere in Toronto to trade Gavin McKenna. 3 games without a point might as well be a one-way ticket back to playing club hockey at Penn State.
We were reaching a breaking point in Gavin McKenna's career. Desperate times call for desperate measures. So in a last ditch effort to save his career, Gavin McKenna asked his mom if he could go to a sleepover at Auston Matthews' house and she said yes!
Sleepover with the captain. I'm sure they stayed up all night telling each other secrets. Playing some video games, drinking some Mountain Dew, maybe prank phone calling old man Tavares. Just having a blast. And if they were sleeping in bunk beds, well it appears that Gavin McKenna called dibs on sleeping top bunk.
Good god what a rip. First goal of Gavin McKenna's NHL career, and it was a certified corner annihilator.
And if you know anything about hockey guys, then you know how superstitious they can be. 0 goals and 0 assists through his first 3 games, he has a sleepover at Captain Auston's house, and then he follows it up with 1 goal and 1 assist? The Maple Leafs still have 80 more games to play this season. Which means that Gavin McKenna can put up at least 80 points this season if he keeps having a sleepover with 34. No word yet on how it impacts his game if they sleep in the same hotel room as each other. So road trips could see his numbers drop off a bit. But any chance he has to crash on Auston's couch? There's a multi-point night loading.
Sidenote: Morgan Rielly and Easton Cowan clearly weren't invited to the sleepover.
