Tom Wilson

CapeCodYaz

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Ok I know this is a B's thread but wondering about this group's view of Wilson on the Caps? I'm a life long B's fan but also living in DC like the Caps and am not opposed to the hockey fights when warranted but at times Wilson seems to cross the line? Thoughts?
 

Ferm Sheller

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It's a terrible, awful thing to say, but I hope he suffers a career-ending injury the next time his skate hits the ice.
 

Bread of Yaz

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It's a terrible, awful thing to say, but I hope he suffers a career-ending injury the next time his skate hits the ice.
I watch Wilson every day as a DC resident, and he is a total goon, but hockey markets itself this way and every city has and has had its share.
 

McDrew

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The best thing for all involved would be for him to just walk away. He provides nothing but willful damage to other people outside the scope of what is morally and codified to be ok.
 

tmracht

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I watch Wilson every day as a DC resident, and he is a total goon, but hockey markets itself this way and every city has and has had its share.
Yes he's a goon but he's not a by the code entertaining kind of goon. He's not Biznasty, or Parros or Laraque. He head hunts good players at will. He's a terrible example of a hockey player. He should be suspended for a long time.
 

RSN Diaspora

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We moved to the DC area from Boston 35 years ago, and I casually root for DC teams when they're not playing Boston, but I've grown to loathe the Caps. Mostly because their fans are annoying as shit, but also because the franchise can't really read the room. Case in point:

40802
 

LogansDad

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It never ceases to amaze me how the view of Marchand has never gotten past his early career (well deserved) tag as a rat and a dirty player, but Tom Wilson gets nothing but effusive praise from the National level announcers. Marchand, of course, has evolved and grown and turned into an MVP level player, while Wilson just keeps doing what he does.

That said, whatever the Over/Under is on his suspension, I'm taking the under. Until the league proves me wrong, I'm going to assume that they will continue to condone this behavior from Wilson, just like they have for the last decade. I mean, they let him on the ice for the banner raising, even though he was serving an enormous suspension for trying to decapitate somebody from behind. It's never going to end until he is old and retires, or suffers a career ending injury when somebody finally gets fed up with his shit.
 

RIFan

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That second angle of the Panarin take down makes a bad move look worse. He is beyond lucky that Panarin managed to turn just enough that his shoulder hit the ice first and saved his head from the full impact on the ice. Seemingly lost is all the crap he did, was that he had his stick under the throat of Buchnevich and pulled up. I'd feel confident if Shanahan was in charge that they'd tell him to come back for training camp. I will be very surprised if Parros gives him any more than the rest of the regular season.

Laviolette also shouldn't be overlooked in this. It's one thing to back your players, but his "nothing to see here" is beyond over the top. The fact he put him back on the ice in a 5-3 game to get an empty netter and then AGAIN for the final minute so he's on the ice at the buzzer speaks volumes about how he views his actions. Zero reason to put him back on the ice in a 6-3 game skating 5 on 5 unless you're looking for trouble. Just like a baseball manager getting tossed in beanball wars, Laviolette should be put on notice that if he can't control his player he can join him on the sidelines.
 

Jed Zeppelin

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It's a very cute move by the league to have the office that handles this sort of thing perpetually run by ex-players from a time before anybody really cared about policing stuff like this at all. Basically guarantees lenience as they will always find some excuse to overlook dangerous behavior.
 

Ferm Sheller

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I watch Wilson every day as a DC resident, and he is a total goon, but hockey markets itself this way and every city has and has had its share.
He's in a category with a limited few in history. Just because there have been equally dirty (read: criminal) players in the past doesn't make it right.
 

Kenny F'ing Powers

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That second angle of the Panarin take down makes a bad move look worse. He is beyond lucky that Panarin managed to turn just enough that his shoulder hit the ice first and saved his head from the full impact on the ice. Seemingly lost is all the crap he did, was that he had his stick under the throat of Buchnevich and pulled up. I'd feel confident if Shanahan was in charge that they'd tell him to come back for training camp. I will be very surprised if Parros gives him any more than the rest of the regular season.

Laviolette also shouldn't be overlooked in this. It's one thing to back your players, but his "nothing to see here" is beyond over the top. The fact he put him back on the ice in a 5-3 game to get an empty netter and then AGAIN for the final minute so he's on the ice at the buzzer speaks volumes about how he views his actions. Zero reason to put him back on the ice in a 6-3 game skating 5 on 5 unless you're looking for trouble. Just like a baseball manager getting tossed in beanball wars, Laviolette should be put on notice that if he can't control his player he can join him on the sidelines.
As a contrarian, I went into that video with an itch to defend the play. A lot of replays that people get up in arms about are a lot closer to 50-50, but fan goggles skew the view.

There is no defense of that play. Even if he was just trying to grab Jersey and not Panarin's hair, the intent was clear. He was trying to bounce the back of Panarins head off the fucking ice. And when Panarin spun mid-fall, he was really, really close to having the top of his head drove into the ice DDT-style.

That entire incident, literally until the last fraction of a second when Panarin was able to complete his spin and change the angle of his head, was "worst case scenario". And Wilson wasnt aiming for something else. The entire time, he was helping the process along.

When does the league stop this? Do we need to wait until he Donald Brashears someone? The man almost paralyzed one of the best scorers in the league. Is that good enough?

Guys like Wilson and Matt Cooke are cut from the same clothe. If the league doesnt remove him from the ice for a LONG time, I genuinely, honestly hope he suffers a horrific career ending injury.

Hes ruining careers and, with the concussions, lives. Hes going to get someone fucking killed.
 

Mooch

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Not only is the behavior outrageous and dangerous, but Wilson's histrionics in the penalty box with the silly "hulk pose" towards the Rangers show that he's not the least bit contrite when he puts other players at risk. The league needs to come down hard on this fuckhead before someone ends up getting permanently injured.
 

RIFan

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View: https://twitter.com/wyshynski/status/1389572554155757571?s=20


Not holding my breath on anything impactful here. Tsk, tsk. Tom. Don't do it again. We're serious this time! We were just kidding the other 324135434 times you've been dragged in here and we warned you.
My feeling was that if they immediately called for an in person hearing by the end of last night they might actually be taking it seriously. Delays just further the notion that a slap on the wrist is coming. They are looking for a reason to diminish his actions.

Rangers should boycott the game if he is on the ice tomorrow.
 

RedOctober3829

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My feeling was that if they immediately called for an in person hearing by the end of last night they might actually be taking it seriously. Delays just further the notion that a slap on the wrist is coming. They are looking for a reason to diminish his actions.

Rangers should boycott the game if he is on the ice tomorrow.
I actually kind of hope he plays tomorrow night. With the Rangers out of the playoffs now and nothing to play for, Wilson should get what's coming to him.
 

The Napkin

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Rangers and Caps play again tomorrow. I'm at the point where I hope several Ranger players take runs at several Caps. And then we all tell Laviolette that they were just having fun out there, we didn't see anything. They're just misunderstood.
 

cshea

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I'm fairly confident that the conversation in DoPS this morning is not what to do and how long to suspend him but instead how to not suspend him.

The rinky dink 3-6 game suspensions just aren't going to work. He got 20 for the Sundvist hit in 2018. Can't go back down from there. He should've been given the remainder of the year off after the Carlo incident. Let the appeals process reduce it, who cares he'd still miss a big chunk.
 

joe dokes

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I'm ready for a team to sacrifice players by just having them ram full speed at Wilson the moment he hops over the boards or through the penalty box door. Poleax him against the bench or the box opening. Dont even wait for his feet to hit the ice. Just cream the guy when he cant defend himself.
 

Ferm Sheller

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Not sure what's going to happen here, but whether it's by league suspension or just by "maintenance day", there's no way the league's going to let him play against the Rangers tomorrow.
 

cshea

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Rangers and Caps play again tomorrow. I'm at the point where I hope several Ranger players take runs at several Caps. And then we all tell Laviolette that they were just having fun out there, we didn't see anything. They're just misunderstood.
Kudos to Zibanejad, Fox, Panarin, Buchnevich and Strome for at least punching back last night. Not exactly a murderers row there. And to Dave Quinn and Zibanejad for speaking up about it to the media (and maybe others if I've missed some quotes elsewhere).
 

The Napkin

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I actually kind of hope he plays tomorrow night. With the Rangers out of the playoffs now and nothing to play for, Wilson should get what's coming to him.
I'm ready for a team to sacrifice players by just having them ram full speed at Wilson the moment he hops over the boards or through the penalty box door. Poleax him against the bench or the box opening. Dont even wait for his feet to hit the ice. Just cream the guy when he cant defend himself.
You guys are thinking too small. Fuck Wilson, go after the other players.
 

NYCSox

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I'm fairly confident that the conversation in DoPS this morning is not what to do and how long to suspend him but instead how to not suspend him.

The rinky dink 3-6 game suspensions just aren't going to work. He got 20 for the Sundvist hit in 2018. Can't go back down from there. He should've been given the remainder of the year off after the Carlo incident. Let the appeals process reduce it, who cares he'd still miss a big chunk.
Even if they give him 20 do we actually think it won't just be regular season games? So he misses 5 meaningless games this year and 15 at the start of next season when they have time to adjust and recover.

It should be their next 20+ actual games but not holding my breath.
 

Ferm Sheller

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Even if they give him 20 do we actually think it won't just be regular season games? So he misses 5 meaningless games this year and 15 at the start of next season when they have time to adjust and recover.

It should be their next 20+ actual games but not holding my breath.
Has this ever happened (in any sport)? Suspension suspended to let the suspendee play in the playoffs and then resumed the following season?
 

lexrageorge

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That second angle of the Panarin take down makes a bad move look worse. He is beyond lucky that Panarin managed to turn just enough that his shoulder hit the ice first and saved his head from the full impact on the ice. Seemingly lost is all the crap he did, was that he had his stick under the throat of Buchnevich and pulled up. I'd feel confident if Shanahan was in charge that they'd tell him to come back for training camp. I will be very surprised if Parros gives him any more than the rest of the regular season.

Laviolette also shouldn't be overlooked in this. It's one thing to back your players, but his "nothing to see here" is beyond over the top. The fact he put him back on the ice in a 5-3 game to get an empty netter and then AGAIN for the final minute so he's on the ice at the buzzer speaks volumes about how he views his actions. Zero reason to put him back on the ice in a 6-3 game skating 5 on 5 unless you're looking for trouble. Just like a baseball manager getting tossed in beanball wars, Laviolette should be put on notice that if he can't control his player he can join him on the sidelines.
I've always felt that suspending coaches for repeat offenders like Wilson would go a long way towards putting a stop to deliberate head hunting. In baseball, managers get ejected if their pitchers throw at batters.
 

cshea

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Absent a Marty McSorley-type incident, I don't think you can reasonably expect the new guy to ding a teammate.
That's a fair point. I guess what I'm more interested in is if Chara has tried to say something to Wilson or if he's just sort of let it go as the new guy. I'd like to think it's the former given what we know of Chara, but I could also see him keeping his mouth shut if he's just trying to blend in and become part of the group and let the existing leadership group run the room.

I'm always reminded of the time Ference called out Dan Paille for a bad hit in 2010 (I think it was on Sawada for Dallas). Ference said something like "that's the type of hit we're trying to take out of the game." Wilson has never had that kind of push back from inside the Capitals room as far as I know. Lavi trips over himself to defend him and I haven't heard a single bad word spoken about Wilson by any of his teammates. Someone inside the room needs to take a stand.
 

NYCSox

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Has this ever happened (in any sport)? Suspension suspended to let the suspendee play in the playoffs and then resumed the following season?
Let's say I have zero faith in DPOS on this one. He was inches away from pulling a Bertuzzi/Moore.

BTW, Bertuzzi wound up with an indefinite suspension that turned out be 20 games (13 regular season plus 7 playoff ).
 

kenneycb

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Has this ever happened (in any sport)? Suspension suspended to let the suspendee play in the playoffs and then resumed the following season?
I doubt it. Closest analog in my head is Raffi Torres who got suspended for 25 games for a head shot to Hossa in the playoffs. Later reduced to 21, 13 of which was served in the playoffs and 8 over the next regular season.
 

Ferm Sheller

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Well, tomorrow night might get interesting. (Although I do suspect that the league will confidentially mandate that Wilson take the night off.)
 

scott bankheadcase

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This is why this behavior will always be a problem in the NHL. They didn't do anything to stop people like Avery and Cooke, and now they're doing nothing to stop Wilson.

In the end, the NHL doesn't want this behavior to stop. And they're too married to the idea, much like MLB with beanballs, that it'll get policed within the game.

When the NBA wanted fighting out of the game in any way, they did something forceful about it. And it's gone (for better or worse). The NHL basically condones this, so it's not surprising that it keeps happening.
 

scott bankheadcase

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The Panarin thing was just 2 guys wresting. Nothing to see here.

View: https://twitter.com/emilymkaplan/status/1389591897283387399?s=20
This is somewhat what I was getting at earlier. Obviously this wasn't just two guys wrestling, but there's some somewhat non-malicious form of that at almost every scrum and stoppage of play all over the league every night. That does make it somewhat harder to distinguish (even though I absolutely would have made that distinction in this case).

The NHL needs to at least start sending guys to the box for all the extracurriculars that happen on so many stoppages across the league. That's how you start putting a stop to these egregious things that really impact player safety.