The Department of Player Safety has issued a $5,000 fine, the maximum allowable under the CBA, to Washington Capitals forward Tom Wilson for roughing New York Rangers’ Pavel Buchnevich last night. The incident of course included much more than just the interaction between Wilson and Buchnevich. The Capitals forward earned two minor roughing penalties and a ten-minute misconduct during the game, but unless there is more supplementary discipline to come, appears to have avoided suspension.
The part of the interaction that caused most of the outrage, slamming Artemi Panarin into the ice, was not addressed by the league at all. Emily Kaplan of ESPN tweets that the DoPS saw everything after the punch on Buchnevich as “two guys wrestling, which happens every night.”
Of course, Wilson’s actions are usually scrutinized more than the average player, and for good reason. He has been suspended several times in his career, including earlier this season when he received seven games for his hit on Brandon Carlo. In the explanation of that event, the league deemed it as:
…a player with a substantial disciplinary record taking advantage of an opponent who is in a defenseless position, and doing so with significant force.
The two teams will play again tomorrow night.
Absolutely ridiculous. The Department of Player Safety is a joke.
should be at least three games in my opinion… Buchnevich had nothing to do with the play. The NHL needs to show the players the will be punished for their actions… cus a 5k fine that’s literally equal to an average 50k salary paying 50$. The NHL needs to start punishing players doing stupid things…..
With Wilson’s history it should be at least 10 games.
This has to be a joke Buchnevich was out of the play completely…. cmon NHL punish your players
@jpritch002 – Do you think that Wilson believed that Buchnevich was possibly hiding the puck with his face on the ice? That would explain the chicken-crap sucker punches…right at the feet of the near-sighted referee…
Now JD should bring up AUSTIN
RUESCHHOFF MASON
GEERTSEN and BRANDON
CRAWLEY
Doug kick him off the tour
Our ratings are the highest they have ever been.
In Canada. Not where the real $ market is.
its from a movie
The Department of Player Safety is beyond pathetic.
This is insane. Wilson is a serious problem suspend him the rest of the season and post season. He is a repeat offender.
So let me get this right NHL… pile driving opponents head face first into the ice and then punching the back of the head is ok?
“None suffered any serious injuries”…except that Panarin will now miss the final 3 games of the year. So I’d say that’s likely injury related.
Well he shouldn’t of jumped him from behind
If by “jump from behind” you mean try to pry him off of Buchnevic when Wilson was aggressively trying to pound his head into the ice, sure.
I think Wilson will have a target on his back next game. It’s the only positive in playing back to back vs the same opponent
Frontier justice is a symptom of exactly what’s wrong with hockey. Officiating is a joke. “Rules” are not rules, but suggestions. “Let the boys play” is a dinosaur philosophy that will forever hold the game back.
Wilson may have a target but he will run from those who wish to take him to task. He has always refused to man up and take on the fight. He only dishes out if the other guy is not expecting it. That is his MO
@TJECK109 – We’ve said this before after previous acts of stupidity by Wilson, but thanks (or not) to the re-done divisions, he won’t encounter Ryan Reaves. Matt Martin is a possibility, but Kurtis Gabriel will be on the golf course with Dan Rusanowsky arguing about how to butcher name pronunciations. The list is very short of guys who can do something about Wilson’s antics in the NHL. Tom Wilson will go unpunished until somebody gets a lucky elbow into his mush when he least expects it. Marek stated on HC a few minutes ago, that (I paraphrase a little here) this will be more about the optics to potential future fans, than those of us who have followed the game for decades. It appears that most of us here agree that the league is extremely tone-deaf on this one.
Nothing that says the Rangers won’t call up a guy for one game. I guarantee someone will run him next game.
Gavin, are you serious that no one was seriously hurt? Paranin left the game probably has a concussion that can end and has ended careers. Wilson is out of control. He probably has Roid Rage TBH. NHL unless they want to bury PED’s should immediately drug test Wilson.
However, The ruling was about Buchnevich and not Paranin. Is there a chance the league is viewing this as separate incidences?
Let’s hope so, if not awful message to league, players and fans!
With the injuries paragraph, I didn’t mean to imply that it was not dangerous, only that the league was under the belief that there were no serious injuries. I’ve removed that part now for clarity.
Also just to tack onto this, Panarin’s injury was listed as a lower-body ailment, not a concussion. I think my history here would show that I would never downplay the seriousness of a head injury.
@Redplanet4 – @Gavin was reporting the league’s stance, not editorializing. The NHL and NHLDPS is to blame for the BS opinion of “it was just wrestling.” All of Wilson’s actions from that scrum are suspension worthy.
Gavin, Fair enough. Thx for the response!
Paranin was stupid to jump him from behind, what did he think would happen
LOL!!! Every player that Wilson runs gets hit from behind.
Not that they ever really valued their stars over the thugs, the “two guys wrestling that happens every game,” and the fighting-as-entertainment, but St. Louis winning the Cup the way they did set the league back 10 years. Officiating is a joke (which means the GMs are a joke). DPS is a joke. Wilson is a disgrace. And until the “wrestling” and fighting and brutal, blatant cross-checking is out of the game, the NHL will never become respected as a major sport. No real sport allows “extra curriculars” after the whistles. It’s just sad that the league doesn’t have confidence enough in its product to piss off the dinosaurs who like the beer-league boxing and move the game forward.
Well he shouldn’t of jumped him from behind
Post it a few more times and maybe you will get that laugh you seem to be desperate for
Why funny? If you jump into an altercation like that onto someone’s back, skates off the ice, you’re dogpiling. You’re not breaking anything up. Second, Buchnevich was driving his stick into Vanecek’s pads after the whistle blew which is why Wilson hit him. This had happened a few times in this game and this is when it boiled over. Stuff like this breaks out quite often in this league when guys are poking the goalie’s pads, trying to shove the puck in when it’s under the pads or taking an extra whack. Happens all the time with every team. It’s the #1 reason scrums break out after the whistle and this was no different.
Look, Panarin isn’t a physical player and shouldn’t have jumped on Wilson’s back and then tried to get into a wrestling match with him along the boards. He clearly wasn’t trying to break anything up by what he was doing, he went after Wilson. If it’s not ok to jump people from behind, it applies to everyone including Panarin.
I would just add to the OP that if you think “dinosaurs” are the only ones that want things like fighting, extracurriculars and generally players policing the game, you obviously don’t know what you’re talking about. Current players (read: not dinosaurs), just about all of them, want these things in the game and believe the game to be safer with these things. On numerous occasions, the players have overwhelmingly (98%+) opposed abolishing fighting and self-policing of the game.
This stuff isn’t going away nor should it; it’s part of the game. Head shots obviously should go and some other severe things, but if you’re wanting a completely sanitized product mostly devoid of any physical or aggressive play, watch women’s hockey. They don’t allow any hitting there because apparently they are too weak and someone might get hurt. Hockey is a “real sport” and always has been. If someone wants to go after Wilson, good. Everyone wants to see it. It’s not like he backs down from the toughest in the league.
I get that scrums happen, but this was well beyond a scrum. I guess they want to make sure there is some good old fashion violence Wednesday?
If the league will not handle it, teams need to take matters into their own. Get a bigger goon, even if it is for the series with the Caps.
Sometime somewhere Wilson is going to be vulnerable and someone is going to take him out.
My assumption is the fact it didn’t mention Panarin potentially means they are viewing these as two separate incidents. the first probably should have got a 1-2 games. two players simply rough housing after a whistle didn’t take into account Buchnevich was essentially defenseless at the moment he was punched. Aren’t defenseless players something the NHL is focusing on?
As for the Panarin part, this has to result in a suspension. I think it will be hard to throw the book at him as they would have to prove his intent was to drive the head into the ice. Panarin getting a likely concussion is unfortunate and I believe there was intent, but strictly speaking, they need to prove that intent which I believe is hard. My guess is he gets 3-4 for that altercation bringing his regular season to a conclusion.
The bigger issue is why is the DOPS defending this clown. This is a history of behaviour that has no place in the league. It’s not like Tom Wilson is a star plyer in the league. He’s know for these types of actions only.
@MoneyBallJustWorks – Regarding the “proving intent” point – when you body slam a guy to the ice, you absolutely intend to injure. What are the odds that DPS is reviewing that separately and will actually get it right? Let’s not hold our collective breaths on that one, as we’d have to issue tiny, tiny apologies to DPS if they actually got one right.
Time to bring up Nick Fotiu and Ty Domi for tomorrow’s game.
The NHL has spent years eliminating the Enforcers from the league. And now when a dirty player like Wilson runs amok cheap shorting players, there is no one left to put him in his place. Because we all know the DPS is spineless.
I’m a firm believer that if a player intentionally hurts another player, the suspension time should double the time the injured player misses because of the injury. All without pay.
@tammelinb – I like! Thumbs up!
I didn’t realize that Don Cherry landed on his feet as the new head of DoPS.
Lemieux was right, when he said about the NHL and it’s unwillingness to protect players and call penalties consistently over 29 years ago. He called the NHL a garage league. The NHL officials will call penalties in the first period but let worse things go later in the game. They call something a penalty all season then let it all go during the playoffs. They lame excuse is that they do not want officials to affect the outcome of games, especially in the playoffs. By allowing penalties to go unpunished, they are indeed affecting the outcomes of games by allowing a team that is not able to compete even up to hook, slash, and trip their way to have a chance to win. That absolutely affects the outcomes of games and a series by not calling the games as they are supposed to be called. That makes the league a garage league.
The play kinda gives me flashbacks of Todd Bertuzzi. Obviously not as bad, but slamming someone to the ice should be an obvious suspension.
This is a f*cking joke
What’s really ridiculous is that he used his stick not once but twice during that scrum on the back of the neck of opponents to drive their head into the ice. You can’t tell me that’s not intent to injure. That was beyond disgusting
Amazing tha the league lets Wilson continue his actions. They gave Matt Cooke the ultimatum to change or be run from the league. He changed. Wilson does the same stuff Cooke did. Cooke was only 5’11” and 200 lbs. Wilson is 6’4″ and 220 lbs. Being that much bigger makes it far more dangerous. If a small guy deserves to be run from the league, why not a bigger guy, who, with the added leverage could actually injure someone to end their career or , god forbid kill them on the ice. This is really actually just as bad as Bertuzzi was bad enough that slammed Buchnevich’s head to the ice with his stick on Buchnevich’s neckl all when he was already tied up by Dowd and Van Riemdyk. He also had Buchnevich’s hands pinned beneath him so he was totally defenseless. All Panarin did was pull Wilson off of Buchnevich. Wilson, after they both got on their skates, knock Panarin’s helmet off of him. grabs him by the hair and slams him onto the ice, then twists his body picks hi, partially up and then slams him again face first into the ice, all without his helmet on. Wilson was intending to hit Panarin in the back of his head as well. Yes this was an obvious attempt to injure not one but 2 players from the Rangers in the same incident. Very lucky that 2 players did not have their careers ended last night.
Dude is a goon. And not in a good way.
I can’t for the life of me figure out why the NHL is protecting a repeat-offender notorious classless goon like Tom Wilson.
Maybe because this time, the blatant aggression was “only”against the Rangers and therefore no big deal, considering the NHL’s bias against the Rangers which has been going on since as long as I can remember?
Didn’t Shawn Thornton get 15 games for doing the same thing to a Pittsburgh player 7-8 years back. If Buchnevich was injured on the play, it would have been a suspension because the DoPS doesn’t look at the intent to injure only if an injury was caused. Which is stupid.
Wilson has talent but there is definitely a fuse that gets loose up in his brain which makes him go over the line WAYYYYY too much.
I had forgotten about that. It was Brooks Orpik. looked up the video. Thornton skates up to Orpik and knocks Orpik down, whole looking at him and Orpik looking at him. Did not slam him to the ice. and punched Orpik twice in the face. Got 15 gmes for that. Guess the NHL gave extra credit for the concussion that Orpik.received.
This is a joke, he sucker punched a guy while he was in the ice, while choking him with his stick.
The only explanation that seems possible is that Wilson must have pictures of the Dept of Player Safety with a sheep or something
Wilson, takes out a grenade, throws 5 of them at the opposing teams bench. Everyone’s dead, blood everywhere….
Dept of player safety: 2.5k fine for unsportsmanlike conduct.
@trencherman – Or, maybe a $1MM reward to Wilson for shutting those chirping bastards up, once and for all! I think I saw a double-secret-probation type of rule in the NHL book that says “No being mean to Tommy Wilson”…
Takes a real big, tough guy to punch someone in the back of the head while he’s down
If you guys bothered to watch the video linked in the article at around the 1:08 mark, it clearly shows Wilson did not hit Buchnevich in the back of the head. He hit him in the back of his shoulder just above the “B” on his jersey. Perhaps if you guys could understand that there was no actual hit to the head, you’d understand why there’s no suspension and why there shouldn’t be one.
link to youtube.com
Fast forward to around 1:08 and watch where the punch lands. It’s clearly not to the back of Buchnevich’s head. It was in response to Buchnevich jamming his stick under the pads of Vanecek after the whistle. It’s also amusing how the video says Wilson “cross checked” him when his stick was actually on the ice under Buchnevich. Pretty hard to cross check someone without using your stick.
I really wish people could be more rational, but it seems impossible for anyone to do so when it comes to Tom Wilson. He’s no saint, but come on. At least stop making things up. If you have to make things up and twist the facts to have an argument, you probably don’t have one to begin with.
Let me rephrase. It takes a real big, tough guy to punch a guy “above the B on his sweater” while he’s face down on the ice.
And yeah, it was in response to him jamming for the puck after the whistle. That happens a lot. Lots of guys then get sucker punched while they’re down afterwards
This is a Twitter fueled chance to pounce on Wilson and get clicks. People don’t even know what they’re talking about. He’s not fined for fighting bread, nor should he. Bread hops on his back. That’s why you don’t fight someone who’s got 60 lbs and 5 inches on you. And “took bread out for the rest of the season”. Had nothing to do with him not having a helmet on. He had a lower body injury! Which was an injury he had earlier too. Yet every news article “panarin out for season after fight with mean old Tom Wilson”. Everything that happened you see on a nightly basis in the nhl. I get Wilson has a reputation, rightfully so, but last night shows how social media can just blind people. I’m totally fine with a fine, would’ve been fine with a 3 game sussy too. Twitter is full of mentally disabled clowns. I’ve never seen a dumber group of individuals
“Everything that happened you see on a nightly basis in the nhl”
Yes, players getting punched while they’re face down on the ice happens on a “nightly basis”