WWYDW: Loui Eriksson

Loui Eriksson became a talking point this week, earning the praise of his coach prior to the Canucks’ matchup against Boston and the ire of some fans following a notably poor performance against the Washington Capitals. Regardless of how you feel about the player, it’s been clear for some time now that he’s not worth his contract, and it’s become increasingly difficult to see where he fits on this team.

Last week I asked: How would you like to see the Canucks respond to the Matheson hit in their rematch with the Panthers?

I think the NHL safety committee blew the call. Five games would have hurt Matheson, and sent a message. Two games is a joke.

Having said that, I also think the staged fights are a joke.

Beating them on the scoreboard by an embarking score? A lot easier said than done.

What I am in favour of, is every single player attempting to nail Matheson, every time he touches the puck, with the hardest hit he can. While I’d prefer they all be 100% legal, it wouldn’t kill me if there were a couple of late hits in their, and players came in with their sticks “protectively”.

Knobs like this need a entire team response, not just one staged fight.

To respond to the direct question about the response in 3 months time, assuming that Matheson hasn’t been demoted to the AHL based on his terrible play on the ice, I suppose someone could go and challenge him. I think it’s likely to be expected by some in the fan base; I would assume it would be a Roussel rather than a Gudbranson, mainly because Matheson has no history of particularly dirty play and is no fighter. He’s also apologized for what happened; that doesn’t make it right and I think the league should have fined him much more heavily than suspended him for two games. I feel like a $500k fine has far more significance than the 2 games and $50k.

All the retribution stuff I think is still dumb. The people screaming that this will mean open season on all the young skill players are also dumb. Just because Marchand speed-bagged Daniel Sedin or Keith punched him in the head did it mean he got attacked every time on the ice? Or because Wilson broke Aston-Reese’s jaw with a blindside hit or Sundqvist with another that everyone went after Tarasenko or Crosby and Letang? Skill players are ALWAYS targeted by lesser lights and always have been. No amount of code has ever served as adequate deterrence, either from the speed of the game or the douchebag-rats like Marchand, Wilson, Cooke, Linseman and so many others.

You really want to have a ‘code’ in the game? Have the NHL, NHLPA and actual individual players grow a pair, not by having staged fights and show sentences, but by standing up and calling out those players who show a blatant disregard for their peers. Don’t reward Wilson with a $5 million contract, don’t tell Marchand it’s ok to sucker punch Lars Eller or give Johanssen a flying elbow just as long as he keeps scoring a ton, don’t keep employing the Dalton Prouts of the league. Until the league, the players association and players themselves take this seriously, this problem will never get fixed.

A staged fight early in the game. I don’t really care who does it, Gudbranson, Roussel, just exchange words, punch each other for half a minute, and go off for 5. It’s better than nothing and it’s good to just get it over with instead of letting it sit like a cloud over the entire 60 minutes. Have your fight and then play some hockey.

I despise what happened to Petey as much as anyone. But is beating the crap out of Matheson next January going to cause EP to become UNINJURED? The problem here is the difference between Law and Justice. Under NHL law Matheson got dealt as per the rules. But justice is not the same thing and Canuck fans are never going to get it as per this incident. Ever. I hate not watching Pettersson but everything in life is dictated by those in charge and the NHL is no different regarding this issue.

Have Rousell offer to dance with Matheson right off the bat, as they are similar weight categories. I doubt Matheson would drop them with Guddy. Have Virtanen, Schaller and anyone capable take every opportunity to hit him hard and clean. Focus on the W.

I read Matheson’s comments where he reached out to Pettersson and apologized. He reviewed the video and can see why everyone is upset, but said he didn’t mean to harm Pettersson with the hit. Have the mandatory fight and focus on hitting him cleanly a bunch and let it be.

The team should send a message by trying to win the game. This idea that a team must get their pound of flesh in retribution is antiquated. Green had it right, we do not need a savage response. The idea that individual players must get justice using an eye for an eye mentallity is wrong. Look at the long term health of these players who end their career with a destroyed brain and addiction to opiods. A good part of their health problems is due to a blood thirsty culture that asks them to sacrifice their long term health in exchange for a meaningless fight that doesn’t affect the game in anyway.
These players are employees of the NHL, and thus it is the NHL’s job to provide a safe working environment for the players. This means suspensions should be used to deter dirty play. They should continue to remove fighting from the league due to the long term effect of concussions. The rules for head hits should match the IIHF. The NHL should make meaningful rule changes to protect players. And the NHLPA should get their head out of their ass and stop protecting goons and start protecting the star players that generate all the revenue for the league. The NHL and NHLPA should make it a priority to protect the long term health of their employees.

I know there’s a lot of talk about pride and respect, but the Canucks should just stick to their game plan. By this, I of course mean trade for Matheson, play him 25 minutes a night with Gudbranson, lose hockey games. Later, lose the draft lottery to Edmonton.