Don Cherry Gives Auston Matthews Advice After Refusing to Fight
The story of Auston Matthews and the Philadelphia Flyers from the other night is no big secret. Matthews and Flyers forward Travis Konecny started jawing back and forth, and it led to a scrum in which the former refused to participate. Seemingly getting amusement all the while.
Retired tough guy Mike Rupp shared his thoughts on the subject, calling out the Leafs' star for behavior he deemed unacceptable. There are varying opinions on the matter, but the fact remains that the score and the time on the clock made a fight utterly senseless for Matthews.
That hasn't stopped pretty much anyone from sharing their opinions, however. Lots of folks have expressed one way or another their perspective on Matthews and how he handled himself that fateful night. Don Cherry's perspective always garners peoples' attention, as a long-time pundit of the game.
Cherry said, on his "The Grapevine Podcast"
"I like Matthews, he's a good goal scorer and everything but you just can't do that when you're a goal scorer. He's gotta learn, just skate away. Don't stand there laughing while some other guy is fighting your battle for you.
You have to take it like Lafleur. The only time Lafleur ever got mad was when him and Mike Milbury used to go at it. Don't start anything and just leave it alone and when the fight is going on don't stand there and laugh."
"I like Matthews, he's a good goal scorer and everything but you just can't do that when you're a goal scorer. He's gotta learn, just skate away. Don't stand there laughing while some other guy is fighting your battle for you.
You have to take it like Lafleur. The only time Lafleur ever got mad was when him and Mike Milbury used to go at it. Don't start anything and just leave it alone and when the fight is going on don't stand there and laugh."
By my estimation, this is a super tame and reasonable take from Cherry. He makes a good point, in that there is perhaps a more humble way for Matthews to conduct his business while his boys are in the pile. Totally fair.
Matthews hasn't been lighting the lamp like he did last year, but he is still producing. With 13 points (6g - 7a) in 13 games, 34 is still driving the Leafs' offense, so it's hard to really criticize him personally. Toronto's problems are beyond Matthews' power to fix himself, unless he scores 60+ goals again. But I don't think there is enough evidence to really the support the 'Auston Matthews needs to be more physical' argument.
For starters, Matthews IS physical in the sense that he uses his rather large 6'3'' 210lb frame to gain body positioning all the time. While he doesn't play overly aggressive, he leverages his physical superiority for puck possession on every shift.
Second, there is just no need for your $11 million man to be dropping the gloves. Should it happen once or twice over his career? Maybe. Crosby did it, Ovechkin's done it. It sends a message to your team and is a huge leadership move. But is it absolutely necessary? No.
| POLL | ||
NOVEMBRE 7 | 279 ANSWERS Don Cherry Gives Auston Matthews Advice After Refusing to Fight Should Auston Matthews fight more often? | ||
| Yes | 108 | 38.7 % |
| No | 136 | 48.7 % |
| See Results | 35 | 12.5 % |
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