Capital forward Tom Wilson has long been a notorious NHL offender and undesirable No. 1 for the league’s Department of Player Safety through his polarizing career. His controversial playing style is effective in inciting opponents and influencing his fan base, but sometimes it goes too far, resulting in injury.
He went nearly 2 1/2 years without formal punishment from the league despite continuing to play with reckless abandoners, as the NHL’s vague rules about upper body contact make those types of plays difficult to prosecute. . He was finally judged with a seven-game suspension – which would cost him $ 311,781.61 to ride the Brandon Carlo of the Bruins in a March 5 game.
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As of March 6, no player has been penalized more in the NHL since Wilson entered the league in 2013. During that period he has had 333 penalties (regular season only), more than 20 percent of majors (72). They add up to 1,052 minutes, including 162 misconduct and two match penalties. Only three other players (Antoine Roussel, Cody McLeod and Evander Kane) have more than 700 penalty minutes. Again, these figures also do not include his postseason misconduct.
Wilson has now been suspended five times and fined twice by the league.
Regardless of anyone’s opinion about Wilson’s game, one thing cannot be debated: he has repeatedly placed himself in positions worthy of scrutiny. Here is a common timeline for each of those examples.
March 2021
Wilson went so long between sanctions not because he had cleaned up his assignment, but because he had not tried hard enough to get the NHL to pay attention. He is then strongly attacked by Carlo.
After examining Wilson’s shoulder, Carlo’s head collided with the glass of the end boards. Carlo had to leave the game and was later taken to a hospital in Boston. No penalty was called, which further angered Boston’s bench.
The next day the NHL announced a hearing with Wilson. The league then lifted a seven-match ban.
The league stated, “While there are aspects of this hit that can shorten the line between doubtful and not suspicious, it is the totality of the Currookmastens that gave this play a qualitative discipline.” “What distinguishes this hit from others is the direct and significant contact of the face and head of a defenseless player, causing a violent impact with the glass. This is a player with a disciplinary record. Takes advantage of the adversary who is in a defenseless position. Doing so with significant force. “
October 2018
Despite considerable discussion among the offspring about trying to bend a safe playing style, Wilson began the 2018–19 season at a place he has often been in the past few years: in hot water with DPOS. In the Capitol’s final preseason game, Wilson blinded Oscar Sunderkvist with a high hit to the Blues. Wilson was awarded the penalty of the match and Sundarakavi suffered injuries and a shoulder injury.
As the hockey world called on the NHL to send a strong message once and for all, the league imposed the toughest penalty yet against Wilson, suspending him for the first 20 matches to start the regular season. DPoS cited its status as a repeat offender and an “unprecedented frequency of suspensions” to justify the longest suspension in the NHL since 2015.
2018 playoffs
Wilson checked in on four (!) Separate occasions during the Capitals’ 2018 Stanley Cup run. The first was during Game 1 of the first-round series against the Blue Jackets when they were penalized for charging Alexander Weinberg. The Player Safety Department took a look, but eventually ruled against complementary discipline because the replays angle “could not determine whether Weinberg’s head was the main point of contact.” Wilson did not get a hearing.
Then, Wilson stabbed Penguins defenseman Brian Dumoulin from Game 2. Dumoulin was skating in front of Wilson, pulling at the last second to avoid a hit from an oncoming Alex Ovchin. Wilson, through his check, smashes Dumolin in the head, but is not punished. Wilson described the hit as the result of Dumoulin’s last-second maneuver. He again avoided a hearing with the DoPS.
The most potent – and the one that eventually landed Wilson for a three-game suspension – occurred during Game 3, when the Penguins had a hit to Zach Ashton-Reese, who broke the jaws of the crooks and caused a ruckus.
Wilson argued at the point of contact that Aston-Reese had shoulders, and depending on the angle of the replays, it could be inconclusive whether this constituted an illegal investigation on the head Under current rules.
Wilson again rocked the suspension chatter during Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals, sparking Jonathan Marchsault’s blind side. The playoffs scoring leader of the Golden Knights, behind the play, released the puck with advance notice to Wilson for ease. The NHL eventually spared Wilson again.
2017 president
Wilson was suspended twice before the 2017-18 season began. He pitched two exhibitions – the NHL equivalent of a slap on the wrist – for a sept 22 on the Blues’ Robert Thomas.
Eight days later, Wilson received the toughest penalty of his career after riding on Sam Bliss in another exhibition against the Blues, resulting in a large penalty and a game misconduct. The DoPS barely fell on Wilson, suspending him for the first four games of the regular season – the only meaningful suspension Wilson has served so far. He forfeited $ 97,560.96 in sports salary.
December 2016: John Moore
Devils defenseman John Moore had to pull away from the ice after hitting Wilson from behind, with Moore facing the first divisions. Wilson was not punished. Moore was diagnosed with a concussion and missed 17 games. The DoPS did not arrange for a hearing.
April 2016: Connor Sheary
Wilson was fined $ 2,900 (the maximum allowable under the NHL’s collective bargaining agreement) for a knee-to-knee collision with Penguins forward Connor Sheary during Game 1 of their second-round series in 2016. , Wilson intentionally went out to make contact with Sheary, who was in pain, but remained in the game. Wilson was not punished.
April 2016: Nikita Zadorov
Wilson’s April 1 hit on Avalanche defenseman Nikita Zadorov split the tidy-versus-dirty discussion in between. As Zadorov traced behind the net, Wilson came barreling down the other side of the ice and accomplished his goal. Zadarov suffered a concussion but played in each of Colorado’s remaining four matches. Wilson, who was not punished during the game, did not receive a suspension.
December 2015: Brian Campbell
Wilson was ruled out in the third period of the game on December 10 against the Panthers for the boarding of Brian Campbell. That stood as his only penalty as DoPS determined that the hit was not suspension eligible. Campbell did not miss a game.
December 2015: Curtis Lazar
Wilson received a match penalty for a hit to the head of Curtis Lazar’s Senators forward, but was later fined by the NHL before serving a mandatory one-game suspension by Wilson. The capitals had argued that head contact was accidental, rather than an initial examination of the hip. The league never publicly made its decision clear and the match penalty was erased from Wilson’s record.
April 2015: Lubomir Wisnowski
Wilson received a minor charging to level Islanders defenseman Lobomir Wisnowski in Game 4 of the Capital’s first-round playoff series in 2015, a play that injured Wisnowski, a serial victim, and the remainder of the series. Used to exclude three matches. Wilson was not further disciplined.
December 2013: Braden Schen
Wilson’s first run-in is with the NHL’s Disciplinearies. Flyers Breyden Sheen was revealed to be a hit on 17 December, when Wilson took charge from the blue line and flattened Sheen to the end boards. Wilson was forced out, and the play attracted a phone hearing with DoPS. The league eventually decided against a suspension and instead released a long-circulated video explaining their decision to release Wilson.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6wdxtAxc64
This article has been updated from its original publication to reflect Wilson’s entire disciplinary information.
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