http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/leafs-matthews-gretzky-1.3808882
"When I played my first game I was more worried about surviving and staying in the NHL," said the league's all-time leading scorer.
"For him to come in under the microscope in this day and age, with so much media and being in Toronto, the mecca of hockey, [it was] something really special."
In his NHL debut, Gretzky recorded an assist on what would be the first goal for the Edmonton Oilers after it joined the league from the World Hockey Association.
https://www.nhl.com/news/nhl-in-awe-of-auston-matthews-debut/c-282619612
David Poile, Nashville Predators general manager
"It was just a fantastic start for the National Hockey League. If you weren't a fan of hockey and that was the first time you tuned in to watch a hockey game, you'd have to absolutely fall in love with the game. I thought it was fantastic. I mean, I watched at least parts of all four games and they were all just terrific. And then you get that unbelievable, individual, spectacular play by Auston Matthews in his first game, and then you've got Connor McDavid two hours later out in Edmonton doing a fantastic job there getting two goals and an assist."
Steven Stamkos, Tampa Bay Lightning forward
"That was pretty amazing. Never been done in the history of the NHL. That's obviously pretty exciting for him to go out there in his first game and score four goals. That was fun to watch as a player in this League and as a fan in general. You just hope that expectations aren't that he goes out and does that all the time. But you can see that he's going to be a great player in this League for a long time. These guys coming in are so skilled and so confident and that showed last night."
Jonathan Drouin, Lightning forward
"It was impressive. Not many guys can draw it up like that. He's so big (6-foot-3, 216 pounds) for that age and his skill level is really high and it showed last night. He's young but you can see how big and strong he is already. He's already kind of a man in his body, and with that skill set it's pretty unbelievable."
Jon Cooper, Lightning coach/ Team North America assistant coach
"Pretty remarkable performance by Auston. I was joking that it was all the extra coaching he got at the World Cup [of Hockey 2016] from the [Team] North America coaches."
Bruce Boudreau, Minnesota Wild coach
"It's always interesting to see young stars play really well. As long as it's not against your team."
John Tavares, New York Islanders center
"That was impressive, no question. I thought I had a pretty good start to my career in my first game [goal and an assist], but nothing tops that. I think he proved at the World Cup his talent and his ability even at his young age. You can just see his confidence growing. Pretty impressive."
Ken Hitchcock, St. Louis Blues coach
"I thought [Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman] Kris Letang put it best, 'Welcome to the beer league.' It was like holy ... he's a man. He's not a young player. He's a young player age-wise, but he doesn't play like a young player and he doesn't look like a young player on the ice. He knocked over men to create scoring chances. He knocked over 230-pound men to create scoring chances. It's very, very impressive.
Henrik Lundqvist, Rangers goalie
"All the players know what type of feeling it is to play your first NHL game. It's a dream come true. When it happens like that, I bet he's just thinking, 'Is this really happening? Is this real?' I saw some highlights and obviously to start your career with four goals, that's extremely impressive. But he looked very poised. It's not a coincidence, I think. He looked prepared for this level. It's going to be fun to watch him play this year."
Barry Trotz, Capitals coach
"That was pretty incredible. I was going to text [Maple Leafs coach] Mike [Babcock]. He was wondering how he would do. As coaches we all know he's a good talent. What he did was incredible. What a start for one of the new faces in the League. If you look at the last couple of years with Connor McDavid and Auston Matthews, our game is in pretty good shape. The torch is going to get handed to those guys in the near future."
Dan Bylsma, Sabres coach
"Sometimes you get goals bouncing off your stick or going off your head or whatnot, and yeah, you got a hat trick or you got an extra goal. … Those were pretty good. They limited him to four goals yesterday. He could have had a couple more. … They had a ton of chances with that line. It was a pretty impressive performance from Auston and his line in that game. And it wasn't by chance. They were good opportunities. It was a pretty fun game to watch."
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