When Sean Monahan flung his gloves to the ice and smothered Ryan Nugent-Hopkins last Wednesday night in Edmonton, Twitter went berserk. Spectators were shocked to see the famously tame centreman who never loses his cool conversely spill it all over the ice in front of the Oilers’ bench.
Logging the first fight of his professional career displayed some unexpected edge and ferocity from Monahan that subverts the cautiousness of an perennial Lady Byng Trophy candidate. Was Monahan’s decision to toss the gloves entirely unpredictable though? Obviously nobody anticipated it against Edmonton specifically, but trading jabs in a tilt was the logical next step for someone playing the hardiest hockey of his life.