Leon Draisaitl was not Jim Matheson's first unprofessional exchange
Jim Matheson was in the news yesterday for a heated exchange with Leon Draisaitl in the Oilers press room. He asked a loaded question, then proceeded to accuse Draisaitl of being «pissy» with him because Leon refused to give him the answer he wanted.
This prompted a storm on social media. The Edmonton media rushed to defend Matheson while hockey fans laughed at Draisaitl's extremely dry response and called Matheson out for being purposefully incendiary.
One such post, however, stood out above all the others. It was a story about how Matheson baited Georges Laraque into going after someone who didn't deserve it.
In 2005 Brantt Myhres had just gotten out of rehab for a substance abuse problem. He dressed for the Flames for a preseason game against the Oilers. It was his first game back, and his father was in the stands to see it.
Before the game, Matheson told Oilers tough guy George Laraque that Myhres had been «talking sh*t» about Laraque in an interview. Laraque confronted Myhres during the game and the two fought, Laraque was the clear victor, and Myhres suffered a broken orbital bone in the tussle. Myhres never played in the NHL again.
Laraque has a reputation as a fair fighter and a genuinely nice guy for good reason. He called Myhres after the game to see if he was ok, and to ask why he was saying the things Matheson told him about. Myhres had no idea what Laraque was talking about, and it became clear that he hadn't said anything of the sort. Laraque confronted Matheson about this, and Matheson revealed that he had made it up for a laugh.
How Laraque managed to restrain himself from assaulting Matheson is beyond me. How Matheson managed to keep a press pass after this incident is disgusting. He was directly responsible for Brantt Myhres' misfortune, and his return from rehab being ruined.
So, when Leon Draisaitl is asked «why are you so pissy?» by the same man, the answer is fairly easy to surmise. Draisaitl has no respect for Matheson, as he clearly has no respect for the players.
