Leafs' star Auston Matthews blown away by a magic trick from Justin Flom.

I can't lie when it comes to magic I am an absolute sucker. We are all old enough to know that the trick's performed by magicians are the product of optical illusions and misdirection, rather than produced by actual magic, but I have never really lost that sense of wonder you feel when you witness a magic trick being performed for the very first time.

Over the weekend Toronto Maple Leafs star forward Auston Matthews and Columbus Blue Jackets forward Cam Atkinson were both given a private showing of a pretty awesome magic trick from television personality and magician Justin Flom. This was not some elaborate set up or some grand magic trick but instead it was a trick performed using only a deck of cards and the participants in the trick itself, notably Auston Matthews. Flom began by directing Matthews to tell him when to stop shuffling the deck of cards, which Matthews was quick to do. Flom then asked Matthews if he was happy with his choice only to have Matthews throw him a bit of a curve ball and ask him to shuffle a little more. 

I suspect that Matthews was actually trying to throw the magician off of his game here but Flom did not hesitate and this time shuffled them in an even more elaborate manner to satisfy the Maple Leafs forward. The next part was the reveal of the trick itself, the punchline of the magic trick if you will, and once again it involved Auston Matthews. Flom began to lay the cards out on the table one by one and side by side and we could clearly see an image beginning to form like some kind of card puzzle being put together. Flom did this for several different rows before the full picture came into sight, revealing a photo of Matthews himself playing in the National Hockey League. 

Hilariously Cam Atkinson was quick to point out that Matthews was lacking his stache in the photo, so Flom handed him a marker and directed him to fill in the missing lip hair as well as autograph the card for him. Based on his reaction it sounds like Atkinson is going to be wracking his brain over this one for a little while at least.