Through 5 NHL games, Elias Pettersson has proved he's the real deal and Canucks fans couldn't be happier about that.
The 19-year-old has 5 goals and 8 points in his first 5 games, but he's out of the lineup at the moment due to a concussion he suffered from being slammed to the ice by Mike Matheson of the Panthers.
Matheson received a 2-game suspension for the slam that injured Pettersson, but as he revealed to George Richards of The Athletic, that's not the only thing he received:
“I’m trying to stay off it, but it has been very, very disappointing,” Matheson said. “To think that people could be so inhumane about something … sports were made to bring people together, to cheer on teams and have passion about their teams. I fully understand and respect that.
“But there are thousands of people commenting things on my social-media pages — sending me death threats, wishing I would commit suicide or get cancer — that’s bringing things to a whole new level. People have even threatened my dog. If you’re going that far, you might want to look yourself in the mirror. I’m not going to engage in it. It’s definitely not worth it. I know not all Vancouver fans are like that. I’m sure it’s a very small percentage of hockey fans who are doing this.”
Matheson had never been suspended or fined prior to this suspension and that fact that he received death threats just goes to show how awful social media can be.
Everyone that's on social media knows how bad it can be and this is just another awful example of that fact. For all the people hating on Matheson, you should probably know that he immediately reached out to Pettersson by text to see how he was doing.
Matheson said he and Pettersson traded text messages the next day. “I apologized,” Matheson said. Pettersson, Matheson said, answered back. “He didn’t have to, but I appreciate the fact that he did.”
(H/T: The Athletic)
