Does Auston Matthews deserve to be a Lady Byng finalist after his misdemeanor?

The announcement that Auston Matthews had been named as a finalist for the Lady Byng trophy was somewhat controversial, given his misdemeanor during last offseason while back home in Arizona.

As most will recall, Matthews was charged with disorderly conduct following an incident wherein Matthews and a cohort of his inebriated friends snuck up on a security vehicle, occupied by a single female officer, and attempted to jiggle the handles to gain access to the vehicle, startling the woman. When she confronted Matthews, he turned, laughing, and dropped his pants and bent over in front of her, while walking away, revealing his underwear.

Despite the fact that the charges were dropped and the matter, settled out of court, there has been a lot of chatter as to whether or not Matthews even deserved to be in the conversation for the "player adjudged to have exhibited the best type of sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct combined with a high standard of playing ability".

Though it's almost certainly subjective, I am of the mindset that yes, absolutely Auston Matthews deserves to be in that conversation. There are a multitude of reasons why he deserves the nomination, not the least of which is the description of the award itself. It is not prejudiced and does not take into account any off-ice activites, whatsoever. The award is not opinionated and condemning. The award only recognizes what it is intended to recognize. A skilled player who displays strong sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct on the ice, which is exactly why Auston Matthews fits the bill.

Matthews enjoyed a banner year with the Buds, which may have eventually seen him walk off with the Rocket Richard trophy, had the season been played in full. Nevertheless, the 22-year-old superstar managed to record 47 goals and 33 assists, for 80 points in 70 games played to go along with just 8 penalty minutes, despite playing an average of almost 21 minutes of hockey per game.

Now, let's be honest. This is hockey. Everyone is subject to momentary lapses in sportsmanship while competing hard to try to win the game.. see Matthews attempting to read the name on the back of Scott Sabourin's jersey as evidence. But then again, we have seen even the most gentlemanly players mix it up on occasion, especially in a heated tilt against a division rival. But can you really argue that Auston Matthews doesn't deserve to be in the same conversation as Nathan MacKinnon and Ryan O'Reilly, simply because he had a bit too much to drink and made a poor judgement call?

Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe is convinced that Matthews deserves some credit for how difficult his job is and is also deserving of standing alongside MacKinnon and O'Reilly in the Lady Byng race.

"It's a great recognition for him, he certainly deserves to be in that class in the league. You look at the penalty minutes and the fact that he plays the game with such discipline... it's not easy to do his job."

A lot has been made of what Matthews did in front of that Arizona apartment complex last year - which he has publicly apologized for - but I don't know of many, if any, 20-somethings who have never made a mistake or a poor decision in their lives while drunk. But now that the matter has been settled and the charges have been dropped, can we please show some class and move on? After all, if we are judging and condemning someone for something that has been resolved and assuming that no lesson has been learned in the process, are we really any better?

Just some food for thought.

À LIRE

Il y a 26 minutes  |  Par William Nadeau La sanction de la LNH qui serait imposée à Arber Xhekaj est maintenant connue, selon deux sources

Il y a 1 heure  |  Par William Nadeau Le Canadien confirme un changement d'horaire inattendu et impose une interdiction avant le match numéro quatre

Il y a 1 heure  |  Par William Nadeau Quatre joueurs débarquent immédiatement en renfort pour le Canadien dont une surprise en attaque

Il y a 2 heures  |  Par William Nadeau Le geste posé par Samuel Montembeault au retour au vestiaire de Jakub Dobes hier fait énormément réagir

Il y a 3 heures  |  Par William Nadeau On se dirige vers une suspension pour Arber Xhekaj après le geste posé hier et les détails sont révélés

Il y a 5 heures  |  Par William Nadeau Surprise : Martin St-Louis pose un gros geste alors que Renaud Lavoie débarque en plein point de presse

Il y a 15 heures  |  Par William Nadeau Jakub Dobes pose un geste qui fait jaser en direction du banc des Sabres après la réussite du Canadien

Il y a 16 heures  |  Par William Nadeau Un nouvel angle de caméra montre que le but de Phillip Danault était clairement bon et la LNH en ajoute

PLUS DE CHRONIQUES