Theo Fleury slams Leon Draisaitl, rails on about “participation trophies”

As you know, retired player Theo Fleury has never been one to shy away from controversy, both during his time in the NHL and after his career on the ice, and lately he has used his social media platforms to express his opinion on pretty much anything. While he has been quite vocal on politics and the global COVID pandemic lately, on Tuesday, he decided to share his point of view on what took place during the press conference in which Edmonton Oilers’ Leon Draisaitl got into it with reporter Jim Matheson. Their altercation was trending for most of yesterday.

As Draisaitl met with reporters to talk about his team’s ongoing struggles and losing streak, Matheson asked him what the Oilers needed to focus on in terms of improvement and Draisaitl got “pissy”, as Matheson himself put it.

Later after the altercation, Matheson took to Twitter to thank fans and colleagues who defended him, saying: “I’d like to thank my fellow scribes for having my back. It’s not easy out here trying to get a quote or two from players who seem to have no respect for some of the games toughest questions.”

To his tweet, Fleury went on a weird rant about “participation trophies”, slamming the star player in the process. This is how he put it:

“Leon comes from the generation of everybody gets a trophy. Accountability is part of the pay cheque Leon. No wonder your not winning.”

Sure, Theo… This is not only a weird take, but also a stupid one to have in blaming Draisaitl for the Oilers’ losing streak. And coming from Fleury, this is quite the statement considering Draisaitl has won an Art Ross, a Hart, and a Lindsay and the former NHLer won an award for plus minus that so few people cared about that they discontinued the damn thing in the league.

But sure, Fleury. Go on.