TSN's "The Reporters" Say Matthews Will Win Calder

Surprise, surprise!  The guys who live and breathe everything Toronto say Austen Matthews is going to win the NHL's Calder trophy for the rookie of the year.  "He's a better player," "he's more valuable to his team,"  bla, bla, bla.  They totally ignore the fact that Patrik Laine leads Matthews in almost every statistical category, and pretty much has from the start of the season.  Matthews scored four goals in his first NHL game, but then Laine exploded with his first hat-trick, including the game winner in overtime.

Head to Head comparison

(Games through March 5)

Matthews

Games: 64

G-A-Pts: 31-24-55

Shots on goal: 227

Avg. ice time: 17:48

SAT%: 51.68

Hits: 15

*Goals created per game: 0.37

SAT: plus-63

Points per 60 minutes (all situations): 2.90

Laine

Games: 58

G-A-Pts: 32-26-58

Shots on goal: 160

Avg. ice time: 18:05

SAT%: 48.02

Hits: 63

*Goals created per game: 0.42

SAT: minus-57

Points per 60 minutes (all situations): 3.32

*Hockey reference dot com

What happens if Laine is able to surpass Sidney Crosby for most goals and wins the Maurice Richard trophy, will the experts still claim Matthews deserves rookie of the year?

Actually, NHL.com has already answered that question.  "If Laine scores 10 more goals than Matthews, wins the Rocket Richard trophy as the NHL's top goal scorer and cures cancer, he would have a 50-50 chance if winning the Calder."  It may be a "joke" circulating social media, but with most of the hockey media based in Toronto, it pretty much sums up the bias towards Matthews.

Never mind facts and statistics, just rely on who your favourite is.