SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- Brian Matthews heard the chatter behind him Thursday as he flew home to Phoenix from a business trip. He insists he wasn't eavesdropping, rather listening because the topic hit close to home.
"I heard people talking about the game," Matthews told NHL.com in a phone interview. "It was about the kid from Arizona playing for the [Toronto] Maple Leafs and coming back to play here."
That kid is Auston Matthews, better known in Arizona as "Papi," the only son to Brian and Ema Matthews of Scottsdale. That kid is the 19-year-old star rookie center playing for one of the most recognizable hockey teams in the world in the biggest hockey market in the world.
Most importantly that kid, Toronto's great hope, is the face of hockey in the desert, an area not known for turning out hockey stars.
And he's coming home.
Matthews will play his first NHL game in his home state Friday (9 p.m. ET; SN-A, SNO, NHL.TV), when the Maple Leafs visit Gila River Arena, where Matthews saw his first NHL game, to play the Arizona Coyotes, his favorite team growing up.
For the large and still growing hockey community in Arizona, this isn't a game as much as it is an event, a homecoming with hype and buzz. Matthews is unlike any other player to come out of Arizona. He's the best the state ever has produced.
Matthews leads the Maple Leafs in goals (16) and points (25) in 32 games. He's second among rookies behind Winnipeg Jets forward Patrik Laine, who had 19 goals and 30 points in 36 games.
"I know so many people going to the game," said Pat Mahan, who coached Matthews when he was growing up and whose son, Michael, is Matthews' best friend. "My team [in the Arizona Bobcats program] is still playing right now. We have practice and kids are asking me if I'm going and saying, 'Isn't it cool? It's going to be so cool to see him.'"
Fittingly, the Coyotes have branded the game Young Guns Night and any child wearing his or her youth hockey jersey will get to come on the ice after the game to get a photo taken with Matthews and injured Coyotes forward Max Domi.
The Coyotes are estimating 500 children will be in that photo. Mahan said at least 100 will be from the Bobcats program, which has 170 kids.
Bobcats director of hockey Ron Filion, who also used to coach Matthews, had to cancel his practice Friday because the kids are too excited about going to see "Papi" play.
Mike DeAngelis, the hockey program director for the Jr. Coyotes, the largest youth program in Arizona, said he expects in the neighborhood of 100-150 players from the organization's 26 teams to be at the game.
"The word is refreshing," Brian Matthews said. "Arizona the hockey market itself has been beat up so much. But honestly, without the Coyotes, Auston is realistically probably playing a different sport. I don't look at it from a personal pride standpoint. I look at it more of a validation."
Brian said there will be 20-25 family members in attendance, including some coming from Mexico, where Ema is from. There will be many other friends from inside and outside the hockey community at the game too.
"There'll be some Toronto fans, so that will be nice," Auston Matthews said prior to playing against the Colorado Avalanche at Pepsi Center in Denver on Thursday. "It'll be nice to have a lot of support and outreach from the hockey community. It's an honor to be a part of it."
The feeling from the community is mutual. Matthews has become an inspiration.
"Every time I know he's playing I'm watching him," 17-year-old Jake Lamberty, who plays in the Jr. Coyotes program, said while taking a break from practice at Ice Den Scottsdale on Thursday. "I just feel the Arizona pride. He's putting us on the map. He's helping us."
Lamberty, who said he hopes to play in the North American Hockey League next season, is one of several local players who skate with Matthews during the summer at Ice Den. They know him as "Papi," the funny kid who jokes around a lot but always is the hardest worker in the building.
"He's the same as he's always been, a nice guy and real genuine," said Derek Brown, from Peoria and a friend of Matthews' who plays at Niagara University. "Nothing has changed him."
DeAngelis said he can tell when Matthews is in the building for a summer skate because there are twice as many players who want to get in the game.
"They hear he's coming and they text everyone and they all show up," DeAngelis said. "We always know when Auston is here."
They can tell by the pace of the game too.
"It just feels like everyone is playing better because he's out here and they want to show him something," Lamberty said. "Everyone is better when he's out here. He makes everyone better."
That he's doing it now with the Maple Leafs comes as a surprise to no one here. His impact in the NHL also has given young players like Ryan DeAngelis, Mike's 11-year-old son, a new role model.
"Auston puts his sock over the back of his skate, so my son, because he's seen him on TV, decides that he's going to put his sock over the back of his skate and he's calling it the 'Matthews skate,'" DeAngelis said. "The keen eye of kids, they notice that stuff and he was like, 'I'm going with the Matthews skate, it's going to bring me luck.'"
Added Lamberty: "It's showing the little kids that just because we're from Arizona doesn't mean we can't make it."
Brown said that's part of what Matthews' homecoming represents, especially with the large number of local hockey players expected to be in the building to see him play.
"Auston has shined the spotlight on Arizona hockey," Mike DeAngelis said. "I told my [under-18 team] in the locker room about a month ago, because they all want to go to juniors and college, that if you guys ever have a year that people watching are going to take a second look at you, it's this year. Everybody in the hockey world, around the world, is saying, 'What's going on in Arizona? What are they doing there?' So when a guy is going by one of the games and he has six games to look at, he's going to see the Coyotes jersey, he's going to see Arizona, and I guarantee you he's going to stop and take another look. What Auston has done is broke down the door for all hockey eyes to be on Arizona this year. Next year it won't be the same excitement, but this is the year. Everybody is watching. That's what he's done for Arizona hockey."
The community will get to thank him for it Friday. The embrace figures to be special and unique. Matthews is looking forward giving one right back to his supporters.
"The outreach of people in Arizona, young kids, families, just reaching out to me and my parents at the rink or wherever, it's always been really positive," Matthews said. "You want to be the kind of person that they can look up to. … It's a pretty big honor to be that person."
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