Stop Right Now and Give Nate Thompson the Lady Byng Trophy

You might read this headline and think i’m joking but rest assured, this is no joking matter. This is a very serious case to kickstart the Nate Thompson 2020 Lady Byng Trophy campaign. Hop on board, if you’re a real one.

Wow, Flyers fans, I’m coming to you late on this one but I still can’t believe what I saw on Wednesday night. I’m still in shock, I’m bamboozled, befuddled, and flabbergasted (those are all real words, feel free to check Webster, Dictionary.com, or Wikipedia (very reliable)).

Over the course of the last few weeks we have seen sportsmanship and unity at its finest. Players linking arms, standing in solidarity and showing support for each other off the ice in interviews. However, I don’t think what happened on Wednesday night can be topped by any margin when it comes to sportsmanship of the game.

On Wednesday night with 6:32 remaining in the 3^rd period and the Flyers leading 2-1 against the Montreal Canadiens in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals, we saw one of the most courageous acts of sportsmanship that maybe the sport has ever seen. It happened so fast and was so monumental that I may have blacked out for several seconds. (This was not due to anger or frustration, I swear. No, no trust me…I swear.)

What we saw was unlike any other. What we saw was a man who saw more than just a game. What we saw was a man trying to teach a younger generation that it’s not okay to embarrass an opponent, even if it means you must embarrass yourself first. What we saw, ladies and gentlemen, was this:

Are you good dude pic.twitter.com/kVT05sY0xc

— Pete Blackburn (@PeteBlackburn) August 13, 2020

Now would you look at that. I guarantee you that past winners of the award, Martin St. Louis and Pavel Datsyuk, would never go to this extraordinary length to ensure that sportsmanship was upheld. I mean, an ordinary professional athlete, dare I say, A COMPETITOR, in the heat of the battle late in a one goal game, IN THE PLAYOFFS, would NEVER do something like miss a wide open goal on purpose.

But my fellow Flyers fans, our gem, Nate (NATAN) Thompson, is no ordinary competitor. I mean think about it. Would a guy with 13 years of NHL experience really miss a wide open, simply abandoned, and perfectly unattended 6ft x 4ft net by accident? NO CHANCE.

And to think, some of you were ANGRY that he missed that goal? All the man wanted to do was not win by too much. C’mon guys.

I dont know why everyone is complaining. That was great sportsmanship by Thompson. We want to win, but not win by too much, right? pic.twitter.com/09zKxH9ps6

— Johnny (Flyers) Hockey (@FlyersJohnny) August 13, 2020

This was an act of heroism at its finest and if you can’t see that then I don’t even think we were watching the same game. Flyers fans, this was a man making a late push to get his name in consideration for the Lady Byng Trophy. The trophy awarded to the player in the NHL who exhibits the best type of sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct combined with a high standard of playing ability.

I mean if that sentence doesn’t scream NATE THOMPSON you need to evaluate yourself and what you find important in a player playing for the Philadelphia Flyers.

Now THAT is a gentleman. A true ambassador of the game. A man amongst boys. Let’s start this late rally together, Flyers fans. NATE THOMPSON FOR LADY BYNG 2020.

Follow me on Twitter @FlyersJohnny

Head Photo Credit: NHL.com

Media Photo Credit: Getty Images