It’s that time of year again, when hockey is in the air, fans are pulling on their favorite sweaters and Tom Wilson has a hearing on the books with the Department of Player Safety. The Washington Capitals forward will have an in-person hearing with the league on Wednesday morning ahead of the team’s season opener against the Boston Bruins, but won’t be in the lineup when they raise their Stanley Cup banner to the rafters.
Wilson was suspended three times last season including during the preseason and playoffs, and at this point can validate his parking at the league offices in New York. The definition of a repeat offender, this incident included a head shot on St. Louis Blues forward Oskar Sundqvist—which resulted in some obvious facial damage—and a match penalty that means he’s currently suspended until a ruling is made later this week. Since the league offered an in-person hearing they can now suspend Wilson for more than five games if they so choose, but it’s not clear if they’ll come down hard on a dangerous, but popular player.
The Department of Player Safety is already off to a shaky start this year after there was outcry at the punishment for Montreal Canadiens Max Domi, who was suspended for the preseason schedule but forfeited no pay and suffered little consequence for his sucker punch of Florida Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad. The league also suspended Robert Bortuzzo for two preseason contests and the regular season opener for an elbow, leading the Blues to have to acquire some defensive depth before the season starts.
How long should Wilson sit this time around? Will the league come down hard on a player that can’t seem to stop involving himself in dangerous situations, or continue their slow path of escalation with the Capitals forward? Cast your vote below and let us know in the comments what your decision would be.
[Mobile users click here to vote]
The guy is a scumbag, through and through. He’s worse than Matt Cooke. It’s a shame too because he is a damn effective player when he’s not out there headhunting and trying to prove he’s tougher than everyone else. Somebody needs to give him the business.
This was Raffi Torres on Hossa level. Repeat offender too. 25 at minimum
Wilson is a goon. Caps are gonna regret that Wilson contract soon, if they haven’t already
Minimum of 10. Gotta try and get the message through
I don’t know if he’ll ever get the message. He’s always toed the line and has already been suspended three times (although the one on Aston Reese probably shouldn’t have been a suspension).
They should just have a 10 game suspension every time he does something now. Even if most guys would only get one, give him 10. He’s had enough chances to change and obviously he can’t.
41 games or whenever Sundqvist come back, but a minimum of 20. He doesn’t get it. King of the blindside. But it was pretty bad NO ONE from the Blues went after him.
I’m biased as a caps fan, but how would you distinct recklessness + head down compared to head hunting? Is there no case that he’s aiming shoulder to shoulder standing straight up but the offensive player lowers himself? And numerous of his big hits that people get all worked up over are highly due to the skater. Aston-Reese hit was clean, dumoulin stops with ovi in front and Willy is chasing him com behind, clean. Just because he destroys them doesn’t mean it’s dirty. I’m not defending this one as much mainly because it’s preseason, but he’s a big hitter and it’s inevitable that skaters will get hit in the head when you’re as reckless as wilson. He should try to change his game a little bit, but quite honestly he wouldn’t be effective if he wasn’t a bruiser.
Hate to tell you, reckless = stupid = multiple offender = Matt Cooke style player. Cooke used to do the same stuff and he deserved every game he was suspended for. Wilson gives the same excuses that Cooke gave. If Wilson played for any other team and he lit up one of the Caps like he does, you would be screaming.
The onus is on the player giving the check, not the one receiving it, to conduct a legal body check. The way that Wilson approaches these suspension worthy checks(from a blind area to the player, at a high rate of speed, and up-high on the player) does nothing to ensure the receiving player’s safety.
More than 10 games. This will be his 3rd suspension in a year, A multiple offender. He actually has till the end of March till the 1st one from last preseason to drop off for the league to consider it in issuing punishment. He has no remorse for any of his hits.
Minimum 25. If the NHL doesn’t send a message, it’s a shame
Gary Bettman doesn’t think much of concussions so why would another brutal headshot bother him? And I find it somewhat amusing that the NHL keeps passing the torch of leadership for the Department of Player Safety from one former goon to another.
Dirty Scott Stevens definitively ended Lindros’s career with one single cheap shot. It was entirely unnecessary, whether you say it was a clean shot or not.
This idiot is big enough that a blow to the head at high speed can kill a guy, say, if his head hits the ice and a massive brain bleed ensues. Unlikely? Perhaps. But distinctly possible!
Hope that Tom Effing Wilson won’t have to face some kids whose dad he killed or maimed.
This is much worse than what Nate Schmidt did (or didn’t) do to get 20 games. Mr. A$$wipe should be started at 30 games, to send a no-joking message. If he does it again then it’s 82 games and review for banishment from the NHL.