When new broke that Toronto's Auston Matthews has been charged with disorderly conduct over the summer, perhaps one of the most surprising revelations to come out of it was that he never spoke about it to coach Mike Babcock or general manager Kyle Dubas. In fact, shortly after the charge broke in the media in September, Dubas stated he had found out about it the same way as everyone else, through Twitter. Well, we now know that Matthews did talk to someone on the team about it long before management found out, and that someone was Patrick Marleau.
Before Friday night's game between Toronto and San Jose, Marleau, who was traded away from the Leafs at the end of last season and returned to the Sharks recently, was asked about the incident involving Matthews and the charge. Marleau revealed that he had talked to Matthews about it over the summer.
I saw him in the summer and talked about it,” Marleau told the Toronto Star. “I don't think he thought it was going to be as big an issue as it has become.”
“There's always two sides to every story,” Marleau added. “It's hard. All things get played out in the media sometimes. So, you know, everything is a learning experience and you got to learn from it and move on, and I think he knows that.”
While it's not difficult to understand why Matthews would seek advice from a player he admires and looked to as a mentor, it is somewhat odd that his coach and general manager had to find out about the incident through social media, even though he had taken the time to discuss it with others.
According to a police report obtained by several media outlets, a security guard at a condo complex in Scottsdale filed a complaint against Matthews after she claims he and a group of male friends tried to open her vehicle as she sat inside doing paperwork during the very early morning hours of July 23rd. The complainant said she got out her car and confronted Matthews, who she said appeared to be intoxicated. The report states that, as Matthews walked away, he dropped his pants, bent over and grabbed his buttocks, though the complainant said he appeared to keep his underwear on.
Source: Toronto Star
