The Leafs’ Matthew Knies inadvertently bumped into Capitals forward Nic Dowd and caused some damage and now he’s giving his side of the story.
During the Maple Leafs vs. Washington Capitals game on Nov. 13, Capitals forward Nic Dowd wasn’t paying attention and skated into the Maple Leafs’ tree trunk of a player Matthew Knies:
It was an innocent play that initially had Knies called for a penalty, but after further review was deemed incidental contact.
Surprisingly for as innocuous as it seemed, Dowd suffered a broken nose but he’s also going to be just fine:
How did Ma
tthew Knies feel about the whole thing?
Matthew Knies is a Nice Guy
Leave it to Knies to be humble in his actions.
The 22-year-old power forward was asked about how he felt about the situation, and whether or not there was any intention, if minor, in Dowd’s injury:
‘I really didn’t mean to collide with him. It wasn’t my intention to hurt him or hit him there. I simply didn’t see him coming behind Doms … I’m just glad he’s OK’
It’s the hockey version of bonking heads, but with how big and powerful these players tend to be, even a small bump can lead to some damage
Clearly, Knies had no malicious intent, and while Nic Dowd did suffer a broken nose, at least it wasn’t a concussion or something more severe.
It’s a rarity that Knies is involved with these types of incidents, as he’s very good-natured on the ice and doesn’t resort to underhanded tactics to gain an advantage.
He prefers to let his scoring and playmaking do the damage instead: