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 Matthew Knies feel about the whole thing?

Matthew Knies is a Nice Guy

image
 

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:

 

Knies is coming off a breakout year and is showing no signs of slowing down this year either.

So far he has 7 goals and 11 points, while playing top-line minutes and being a key contributor to both a revamped Maple Leafs powerplay, but also gives a certain energy that very few players can replicate.

Toronto needs to re-sign Knies ASAP as they can’t risk losing him on an offer sheet, and with how well he has done the last two seasons, Toronto has a future superstar in the palm of their hand and can’t be dumb enough to throw it away.

Knies’ apology is another reason why Toronto needs to keep him around, as he’s the perfect example of a true hockey player. Tough, gritty, but humble.

It shows great maturity for Knies to apologize, even if it was pretty much accidental. He may not be a Canadian, but Knies certainly does his best impression with his humble and straightforward apology.