The NHL should be embarrassed by the league’s handling of Tom Wilson’s inappropriate conduct.
The Washington Capitals defenseman has been getting universally dragged and criticized after he appeared to pin Pavel Buchnevich’s neck and head to the ice Monday night against the Rangers. (RELATED: David Hookstead Is The True King In The North When It Comes To College Football)
Tom Wilson once again crosses the line, as he goes after Pavel Buchnevich in the crease after play is stopped #NYR pic.twitter.com/o8aSjcLWEV
— Shayna (@hayyyshayyy) May 4, 2021
He followed up that insanely dangerous action by slamming Artemi Panarin onto the ice, which could have caused irreparable damage.
Artemiy Panarin reacts to Tom Wilson, the Rangers and Caps get into a scrum, and Wilson ends up wrestling Panarin to the ice… pic.twitter.com/OvCeGkDJyF
— Shayna (@hayyyshayyy) May 4, 2021
The NHL announced Tuesday that Wilson’s punishment would be nothing more than a $5,000 fine for “roughing” Buchnevich.
Washington’s Tom Wilson has been fined $5,000, the maximum allowable under the CBA, for Roughing NY Rangers’ Pavel Buchnevich.
— NHL Player Safety (@NHLPlayerSafety) May 4, 2021
According to Emily Kaplan, the NHL viewed Wilson slamming Panarin onto the ice as “two guys wrestling, which happens every night.”
I understand why people are upset/confused over no suspension for Tom Wilson, but here’s how the Department of Player Safety saw it..
-The “fall” on Buchnevich isn’t much.
-The punch is what Wilson got fined for.
-Everything after? Two guys wrestling, which happens every night. https://t.co/t2HeFFLYPd— Emily Kaplan (@emilymkaplan) May 4, 2021
I want to meet the person dumb enough to honestly believe what Wilson and Panarin were doing was nothing more than wrestling.
#AllCaps Tom Wilson should be suspended indefinitely from the NHL.
Tom Wilson grabs #NYR Artemi Panarin by the hair pulling him down as he body slams Panarin head first into the ice.
Enough is enough! Ban him for life. pic.twitter.com/M0pAtcLd60
— Hockey Hound (@HockeyHoundShow) May 4, 2021
The NHL should be embarrassed by this decision. I love hockey, but as long as stupid decisions like this are being made, I don’t want to hear about how the league cares about safety.
Cleary, that’s not the case at all. If the NHL was serious about player safety, Wilson wouldn’t be playing for a very long time.
“We all saw it. There’s lines that can’t be crossed…one of the star players in this league now who could have been seriously seriously hurt in that incident” – David Quinn on the Tom Wilson incident with Artemi Panarin and Pavel Buchnevich pic.twitter.com/jDxrvNpyQ3
— Rangers Videos (@SNYRangers) May 4, 2021
The NHL needs to figure it out and figure it out quickly.