ok this has been gnawing at me all day. about matthew. and the cats these two games.

so people are saying that matthew should be benched or that he isn't a real leader or that he's the reason they're losing or etc... and frankly that pisses me off like crazy. that is simply how he plays and sometimes it gets out of hand, i can't and won't defend him for that. but it's so hard when the refs are so clearly biased. like. in my opinion, matthew shouldn't have gotten either of his misconducts from last game. the first? sure. but almost everything that got called on the cats, even in game one, but especially in game two was utter bullshit. and if not that, then vegas should have been handed the same amount of discipline because they were doing that and arguably worse!

the cats losing two games and matthew getting a bit out of hand is not a reason to start saying he's bad or a liability. especially not when it was those same people that were singing his praises not two weeks ago that are now claiming he's shit. "oh he's such a great player and i love that aggressiveness; really honing back to the old ways of hockey!" well then fucking stick to that??? chose a side or don't speak about the topic. matthew and serveral other people in the league (great examples being kadri, marchand, bunting, and of course brady tkachuk, and etc) play a style of game that gets on everyone's nerves. it's meant to be that way. they're a player you need on a team. but that comes with its problems; refs get on edge with them, they toe the line and sometimes cross it too far, and they can cost the team. but specifically for matthew's case this doesn't mean he's a bad leader. the way he is honestly just runs in the family. both tkachuks are such amazing leaders, and they've learned to forge their "dirty" way of playing into a strength that benefits the team. but everyone slips up, and matthew has the past couple games. again, that does not change who he is as a person or a leader, it just shows that he's human and that the position he plays can be a difficult one to juggle.

it's also important to note that matthew has in no way been the only guy to mess up and lose in this series so far. in the same way you cannot win with one man, you can also not lose by one man. stop trying to use matthew as a scapegoat just because he's always the "clearest" target. it isn't all his fault and it never was.