Oh boy, we got a lot to unpack here.
So as I said last night, NHL nominations are coming out and for the Lady Byng we got Nate MacKinnon, Ryan O’Reilly, and – get this one- Auston Matthews.
Some people have beef with Nate and Ryan but I don’t so we’re not talking about that now.
Seriously, who the fuck is in charge of this? The guy, less than a season ago, had disorderly conduct charges brought against him. He, childishly (IMO), ran from them and didn’t tell his team front office. Then those charges were subsequently leaked and he did not handle that well but NOW you’re nominating him for a Lady Byng??
The Lady Byng is an award for “player adjudged to have exhibited the best type of sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct combined with a high standard of playing ability”. The fact that you’re gonna put Matthews as a nominee one year after what happened is ludicrous to me. I know Matthews is talented and he has done a lot of community work but it’s literally been less than a year since the charges were even dropped. And you’re putting him up for an award that’s about “gentlemanly conduct”.
Here is a list of players that could have been up for that:
- Tyler Seguin (69GP 17G 33A)
- Actually speaking up about Black Lives Matter and has been doing work with the movement and other organization
- Braden Holtby (48GP 25-14-6)
- HUGE ally and speaks up for inclusivity in hockey
- Jonathan Toews (70GP 18G 42A)
- Once again, actually talked about BLM and has done tremendous community work
There are 50 other players I’d nominate for the Lady Byng before Matthews. I believe that people can change and maybe one day Matthews will learn from his mistake and move on but it has been less than a year and the league is putting him up for an award that is about honor. Not much actually changes in a year.
I’m less mad and more astoundingly baffled. How no one thought “yeah we probably shouldn’t do this” is astounding. It’s straight-up unbelievable how dumb the NHL’s leaders actually are.
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