Mike Rupp calls out Auston Matthews!

Former National Hockey League forward and current analyst Mike Rupp made a career out of bruising his opponents, routinely racking up over 100 PIM a season. And right now, he's issuing a very public callout to one certain NHL superstar.

Toronto Maple Leafs forward Auston Matthews was challenged a handful of times near the end of last night's victory over the visiting Philadelphia Flyers at Scotiabank Arena, only to be saved from having to drop the mitts by his teammates, who instantly confronted Travis Konecny when they tried to get to him. 

Of course, it was Matthews who gave Konecny a whack, leading to the latter's understandable frustration. But according to Rupp, Matthews is the one coming away looking bad by having his teammates fight his battles. 

"He doesn't have to fight here, although he's the one who started this whole thing as far as going after him in the corner," Rupp said. "But you can't just stand there and be okay with your teammates coming to your defense and you just laugh about it. We've seen this movie, I've seen this time and time again with Auston. Playing the cool card doesn't work, it doesn't float. It may look cool on social media, but in that locker room, at some point it will wear thin." 

"You have a 39 year old warrior who has played the game hard from Day 1 is going to come and fight this fight for you, and you're going to smile?" Rupp opined when talking about Mark Giordano coming to Matthews' defense. "That's the first part. The second part, Michael Bunting, Calder finalist from last year....you're okay with him getting involved? Auston Matthews is gonna stand here, and your situation is that you grab on to someone and keep it even. Look at his body language - one arm, barely up. Like a wet noodle....wasn't even looking at anyone in the eyes, but you're okay with all this going on?"

Are you with Rupp on this one?