Photo: Rob Carr
Late in the first period, the Colorado Avalanche went offside and the whistle blew. Tom Wilson decided this was the perfect moment to skate over and have a chat with future hall of famer Jarome Iginla.
It did not work out well for Willy Baby.
Iginla cross-checked the approaching Capital violently to the ice.
Wilson then got up and dropped his gloves. While officials separated the two players, Igilna uppercut Wilson in the jaw.
That looked like it hurt.
The weird part was how officials penalized the play. They gave both players matching minors for roughing. While Wilson started the mess by going towards Iginla, that’s not actually illegal. In fact, beyond dropping his gloves and grabbing Iginla as he got up, Wilson never actually did anything. I was surprised Iginla didn’t get an extra minor penalty for cross checking.
Wilson’s deteriorating reputation league-wide may be why he no longer gets the benefit of the doubt.
Late last week we learned from Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman that Wilson was on the NHL’s Player Safety Watchlist along with Zac Rinaldo, Steve Downie, John Scott, and Jordin Tootoo. This despite the fact that he’s never been suspended for a dirty hit (he’s had DOPS hearings and come close to supplementary discipline a few times).
Later in the second period, CSN Washington’s Craig Laughlin commented that he was “not sure [Wilson] did anything on that play. He got punched and crosschecked by Igilna.”
That would be correct, Craig. But Tom needs to be careful.
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