It has been a busy news cycle for Tom Wilson. Last night, Wilson was assessed a match penalty for a hit on the Senators Curtis Lazar. Generally, everyone agreed with the call and calm discussions on social media were had. Sike. Hot takes on the hit and Wilson as a player burned through the night.
Today, while the Wilson hit is still a big story, the temperature of the takes has cooled significantly.
But first, and most importantly, Lazar is okay. Bruce Garrioch reports that Lazar said he does not have a head injury but may not play on Saturday anyway.
CSN’s Chuck Gormley reports that Wilson does not have a hearing scheduled with the league, and the team expects the match penalty to be rescinded.
Former NHL referee Kerry Fraser also weighed in, saying that Wilson indeed did not deserve a match penalty on the play:
However, this was not an illegal check to the head given the fact that Wilson delivered a hip bump combined with shoulder-to-shoulder contact. Wilson did not hunt Lazar down from behind or explode through the contact with excessive force. His skates were not off the ice, so he was not guilty of charging. An interference violation did not occur since Lazar was eligible to be legally checked as the designated puck carrier (see puck on stick below). Lazar set himself in a lower posture as he received the pass which may have contributed to the trauma he sustained.
Also Pierre McGuire was on Ottawa radio this morning to discuss Wilson’s reputation, but we did not listen.
Wilson himself took questions after practice today. For nearly 15 minutes on Thursday he spoke, rather eloquently, about the hit.
Tom Wilson: "It’s just frustrating that maybe if that’s another player, then it might not be a five minute match penalty."
— Katie Brown (@katiebhockey) December 17, 2015
Wilson received encouragement from one former Caps defenseman who knows a thing or two about big hits.
Wilson said former Caps defenseman and noted tough guy John Erskine texted him last night and said "Hey, good job, clean hit."
— Katie Brown (@katiebhockey) December 17, 2015
Wilson also said he had and Lazar have a shared history, and he intends to reach out personally to check on the injury.
Wilson: "I know Lazar pretty well. We’ve been to Hockey Canada camps together, and maybe I’ll reach out and just make sure he’s all right.”
— Isabelle Khurshudyan (@ikhurshudyan) December 17, 2015
Elsewhere, ESPN held a roundtable to discuss the hit and the call. Here’s how it broke down:
- Craig Custance doubts it was an illegal hit and wants the match penalty rescinded.
- Sean McIndoe doubts it was a deliberate hit at all and wants the match penalty rescinded.
- Joe McDonald also doubts it was a deliberate hit and adds there was no intent to injure, but also thinks the call, which he describes as based in reputation, was appropriate and that the match penalty should upheld, which is a tangled mess of thoughts that will bother if you think about it too long.
- Scott Burnside appears to support an NHL anarchy wherein bad calls are allowed to let stand in defiance of established rules to review and overturn them.
- Pierre LeBrun doesn’t have much of an opinion, but says Wilson is now tainted due to his reputation.
Lightning round.
Friedman: Rescind it!
https://twitter.com/FriedgeHNIC/status/677331453441478656
Spector: Rescind it!
https://twitter.com/SportsnetSpec/status/677331335782862848
Kypreos: Rescind it!
https://twitter.com/RealKyper/status/677340892290764800
Wyshynski: No opinion, but he liked What We Do In Shadows!
Late to this but WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS was brilliant. Might be in my Top 5 horror comedies of all-time. Streaming on HBO GO.
— Greg Wyshynski (@wyshynski) December 17, 2015
As for Wilson himself, he and Brooks Laich will be at Collectable Heroes at Fair Oaks Mall tonight at 6:30.
