As he returns to lineup, Panthers’ Nick Cousins disagrees with negative narrative around him
Nick Cousins is ready to get back on the ice. For 12 games, Cousins was in the NHL’s concussion protocol and watched as his Florida Panthers teammates put up a strong showing ahead of the All-Star Break while he was sidelined.
“It’s been a long month,” Cousins said Sunday.
The sentiment goes beyond just the injury, which he sustained when he was boarded by the Arizona Coyotes’ Jason Zucker on Jan. 2. Cousins has been taking his share of heat away from the rink as well during that span.
It started on Jan. 6, when Hockey Night in Canada analyst Kevin Bieksa called Cousins “a rat” for his run of controversial hits this season.
And then on Jan. 31, The Athletic released an anonymous player poll that had Cousins listed as the overwhelming favorite for “the player in the league whose face you most want to punch.”
(The Panthers had three players among the top eight vote-getters for that question, with Matthew Tkachuk coming in third and Ryan Lomberg eighth.)
Cousins, in his 10th NHL season, has always played with an edge. Physicality, grit and getting under the opponent’s skin define his style and have helped him carve out his career to this point.
Cousins said the criticism by surprise, but with the forward returning to the lineup Tuesday when the Panthers host the Philadelphia Flyers, he’s doing what he can to not let it impact him as he tries to help Florida gear up for another playoff run.
“That’s the style that has gotten me where I am, and I don’t really plan on changing that either way,” said Cousins, who has five points in 37 games played this season. “Some people like it. Some people don’t.”
Bieksa, in the Hockey Night In Canada segment, pointed out three specific hits this season from Cousins that he felt were cheap shots in an attempt to prove his point.
The primary example was Cousins’ hit on Arizona Coyotes defenseman Juuso Valimaki on Jan. 2. No mention, though, of what happened afterward — when Zucker’s blindsided Cousins with a concussion-inducing check into the boards. Zucker was suspended three games for his actions. No penalty was called on Cousins for his initial hit on Valimaki.
Bieksa’s other examples were a Cousins open-ice hit away from the puck on the Winnipeg Jets’ Mark Scheifele on Nov. 24 and a hit from behind on the Columbus Blue Jackets’ Erik Gudbranson on Dec. 10.
Cousins received two-minute penalties for the hits against Scheifele (interference) and Gudbranson (boarding).
While nothing major came from the Scheifele scuffle, Gudbranson retaliated by jumping Cousins twice — once almost immediately after the boarding and then again after both players got out of the penalty box. The second retaliation, during which Gudbranson tossed Cousins to the ice and began punching him, resulted in Gudbranson being ejected from the game and given a one-game suspension.
“This is a trend with his player,’’ Bieksa said of Cousins. “He has done this a numerous amount of times, ramming a guy’s head into the boards. ... There’s no place in the game for this. What’s the common theme with all of these? [Cousins] at the bottom of the pile in a turtle position.
“I am told he’s a good guy,” Bieksa continued. “I’m told he’s liked by his teammates and he’s actually a pretty good hockey player, but somebody in that organization, or somebody that he respects, has to sit down and say, ‘Enough of this. This doesn’t help the Florida Panthers win. It doesn’t make us a better team.’ Or, the NHL has to come down and hammer this guy.’’
Cousins’ response to the clip?
“The guy clearly doesn’t like me,” Cousins said, adding that he has never met Bieksa but would like to. “I mean, my phone started blowing up one night when I was at home, and I didn’t know what it was. And then a couple people sent me the clip. So yeah, he’s entitled to his own opinion. It is what it is.”
Added Panthers coach Paul Maurice: “I’ve watched every shift he’s played for the last year and a half. I can pretty much guarantee nobody else has ... but I’m biased about it. I love the guy. Teammates love him. We love him. That’s the great part about this sport. It’s a full contact, hotly contested sport. Players then get reputations, whether they’re earned or not. The more success you have, you’ll also have more people dislike you. I’m good with that. I’m good with Nick. I’m good with the way he plays.”
And Cousins knows he has his teammates’ support.
Almost immediately after Zucker boarded Cousins on Jan. 2, defenseman Gustav Forsling jumped in and fought Zucker. Forsling got 17 penalty minutes — two for instigating, five for fighting and a 10-minute misconduct.
And then on Jan. 24, when the Coyotes made their way to Sunrise, both Lomberg and Jonah Gadjovich dropped the gloves against a pair of Arizona players in the opening seven seconds of Florida’s eventual 6-2 win to set the tone for that game.
“The guys having my back against Arizona, that meant a lot to me, honestly,” Cousins said. “It just goes to show the great team that we have in this dressing room. No matter who it is, everybody’s gonna have each other’s back. That’s kind of a been our M.O. all year.”
This story was originally published February 6, 2024 at 8:34 AM.
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