Two former NHLers have very different takes on the exchange between Matheson and Draisaitl

Ever since it happened earlier Tuesday, the exchange between Edmonton Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl and Edmonton reporter Jim Matheson has been the talk of the hockey world. Matheson and Draisaitl butted heads during media availability, with Draisaitl telling Matheson sarcastically that "you know everything" while Matheson asked Draisaitl why he's so "pissy". The full video of the exchange can be found at the end of this article. In the meantime, we'll look at two very different responses to the exchange from two former NHLers who were used to dealing with reporters throughout their careers.

The first comes from Marc Methot, who played over 620 regular season games in the NHL throughout his career. He was clearly on Draisaitl's side.

"It's not the players job to address why a team is struggling," said Methot. "He can certainly give an opinion but he isn't obligated to do so. That's the general manager and head coach's job. Following it up with a question like 'why are you so pissy?'Leon handled it with class."

A reporter responded to Methot's tweet saying Draisaitl was the one who made it personal.

"If a reporter asked me why I'm being so pissy, there's a high probability I would have thrown a water bottle at him. So there's that?" answered Methot.

Meanwhile, Stanley Cup Champion Theo Fleury also decided to have his say on the incident, and it seems he doesn't care much for Draisaitl.

"Leon comes from the generation of everybody gets a trophy," said Fleury. "Accountability is part of the pay cheque Leon. No wonder your(sic) not winning."

Fleury made that statement in response to a tweet from a fake Jim Matheson account which thanked "fellow scribes" for having his back. It appears there are five or six fake Matheson accounts floating around Twitter.

Like him or hate him, and there are plenty on either side, Matheson is a Hockey Hall of Fame inductee and a reporter who was around during Edmonton's glory days of Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier, Jari Kurri, etc., winning Cups for the city. Amongst reporters, he is very well respected. Amongst fans, it seems he's not well liked at all.

It's not the players job to address why a team is struggling. He can certainly give an opinion but he isn't obligated to do so. That's the general manager and head coach's job. Following it up with a question like «why are you so pissy?»Leon handled it with class. https://t.co/ntPrx0AeMF— Marc Methot (@MarcMethot3) January 18, 2022

If a reporter asked me why I'm being so pissy, there's a high probability I would have thrown a water bottle at him. So there's that?— Marc Methot (@MarcMethot3) January 18, 2022

Leon comes from the generation of everybody gets a trophy. Accountability is part of the pay cheque Leon. No wonder your not winning.— Theo Fleury (@TheoFleury14) January 18, 2022

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