In my part of the world where hockey is at the center of the universe, this weeks story is the behavior of Washington Capitals forward Tom Wilson. If you have not seen the video, just You Tube it. His actions are despicable and the action by the NHL Department of Player Safety are irresponsible and prompted an unprecedented media release by the New York Rangers against Wilson and the DOPS.
The New York Rangers are extremely disappointed that Capitals forward Tom Wilson was not suspended for his horrifying act of violence last night at Madison Square Garden. Wilson is a repeat offender with a long history of these types of acts and we find it shocking that the NHL and their department of player safety failed to take the appropriate action and suspend him indefinitely. Wilson’s dangerous and reckless actions caused an injury to Artemi Panarin that will prevent him from playing again this season. We view this is a dereliction of duty by NHL head of player safety, George Parros, and believe he is unfit to continue in his current role.
The press release speaks volumes. The NHL will have back channel discussions today to make sure tonight’s game does not turn into a Gong Show. The league has too much cash at stake after signing a new television deal last week to let this get out of hand.
The Rangers got the outcome they wanted and made a good decision by doing this IMO. They called the NHL out and embarrassed them. That takes balls and someone will lose their job. Hopefully, DOPS Supervisor George Paros. A Princeton graduate who made it to the NHL as an enforcer his bias in this decision is quite obvious.
The build up to tonight’s game is very similar to the Todd Bertuzzi & Steve Moore incident. The game does not need that or the outcome. Moore has lost quality of life because of that incident and it is time for the league to step up and do the right thing. They have a free spot on the Bingo card to make an impact. However, I am not holding my breath!
Tom Wilson is ruthless, prey’s on the vulnerable, is a predator, and finds weakness in teams and competitors and exploit’s that. He shows no remorse for his actions because the reward to him is much greater than what he would lose. The NHL enables this type of behavior so why would he not continue? Someone on the NYR will fight TW tonight, TW answer and it will all be over. For now, until the NHL enables another player.
Think of the NHL as a workplace. In this workplace a Union member does this to another union member during the course of shift. You can bet a grievance would be filed. Maybe it is time for this to happen. Panarim should file a grievance against TW for conduct unbecoming and workplace harassment. The NHL does not want to do anything, it is very obvious, maybe it’s time for the NHLPA to start taking care of its members. Don Fehr is the head of the NHLPA and he has been noticeably quiet in recent months. Where is his statement on all of this. His job is to protect ALL the members. He represents 660 members, 659 are not being protected. Why?
There are 30 other teams that have to face TW next year and are well aware that any shift against him could end their career and impact their livelihood and quality of life.
Why is he on the ice?
The clock is ticking for Gary and Don.
For goodness sake, make the right decision.
Until next time.
Follow on twitter @Betweentheears2
Update: 8:05 am Eastern
I was wrong in predicting only one fight. Six happened in the first five minutes.
What happened last night was a Sh*t Show thanks to Bettman and Parros. Bad decision piss poor outcome.
They had an opportunity to do the right thing but their Neanderthal thinking resulted in a scene out of Slapshot. A friend said to me the culture of hockey has changed very little in the last 100 years, just the skill of the athletes. Sometimes these lines get blurred.
I still love the game of hockey, just not a fan of the NHL.
Between The Ears 