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Tom Wilson on playing playoff games in an empty arena: I’ll have to use ‘less f-words’

By Ian Oland

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July 13, 2020 1:18 pm

Tom Wilson is one of the most notorious chirpers in the NHL. From telling Joe Thornton “I got a ring” on a hot mic to terroizing former roommate Andre Burakovsky on social media, Wilson is never afraid to speak the truth.

But an empty arena could prove to be problematic for the Capitals enforcer as his chats with opponents could be easily be picked up by mics set up around the rink. During a Zoom call with reporters during the Caps’ first day of Phase 3 training camp, Wilson was asked what he thought the experience would be like.

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“Less boos and less cheers at home, I guess,” Wilson said. “It’ll be weird. I’m going to have to watch what I’m saying. Less f-words and stuff like that. It’ll be a little bit different if the mics are picking that up. I guess it’ll be entertaining.”

The Capitals, who are scheduled to travel to Canada on July 26, will play all their round-robin and initial playoff games at an empty Scotiabank Arena in Toronto.

“You know what? At the end of the day, it’s going to be extremely weird,” Wilson said. “I’ll be honest with you. I’m a guy that thrives on momentum and energy and that’s something that I try to bring to the table. I guess you could say it’s even more important for me to do that and try and lift the team any way I can. There will definitely be some times when it gets a little bit quiet out there. I guess we’ll just pretend we’re playing in a rink that has a little less atmosphere than we’re privileged to have in DC.”

Weird is right. I don’t know about you, but this makes me crave another potential playoff matchup with the Penguins even more now.

Screenshot courtesy of Zoom