ARLINGTON, VA —The Washington Capitals will get a boost to their roster on Thursday when Tom Wilson returns to the lineup. After serving a six-game suspension for high sticking Toronto’s Noah Gregor, Wilson will re-join the team for the first time in more than two weeks as the Caps face their rival Pittsburgh Penguins.
Wilson opened up about the suspension on Wednesday, expressing frustration over what he argued was an unnecessarily harsh punishment.
“It’s one of those things where it’s tough,” he explained. “After the game, no one’s really talking about it. It was, honestly, it was a complete accidental play. And coaches aren’t talking about it, media’s not talking about it. Ref gave me a double minor and then overnight, with slow-mo and all that. The next morning you wake up to a crazy amount of media. It’s one of those plays where it happens really quick. Obviously I’m not trying to get him in the face there at all. He’s a tough player.”
The Department of Player Safety labeled Wilson’s actions as both “dangerous, direct, and forceful” and “fully under his own control,” hence their decision.
Besides asserting that the play was an accident, Wilson pointed to Gregor’s lack of injury on the play. Gregor did not miss time after the high stick and later noted that the only major damage was to several of his false teeth.
“Tough part for me is: he doesn’t miss a shift, and I’m gone for six games,” Wilson said. “It’s tough; it’s a tough pill to swallow when that’s the case. It felt like a long time. So obviously, I’ve got to control my stick better and that doesn’t happen. But I think he knew right away it was an accident. There was no intent behind the play. So for six games, with a play that there’s not intent behind, it’s tough.
“But at the end of the day, it is what it is. And all I can do now is control the future and help this team get into the playoffs. And I did respect how he handled it. From player to player, I think you have a feel for the game and you know when a guy’s out there trying to do something versus an accident. As genuine as I can be, obviously I’ve never been a stick player. I’ve never swung my stick. Unfortunately, it was bad timing and one I’d obviously like to have back. Just moving forward (now).”
In his 11-year NHL career, Wilson has been suspended six times. He had gone just over three years since his last suspension — seven games for boarding Bruins defenseman Brandon Carlo — before high-sticking Gregor.
Wilson told reporters Wednesday that he had wanted to appeal the play and still believed he could have gotten the suspension reduced. He successfully argued his case in 2018, when an arbitrator reduced a 20-game suspension to 14 games after an illegal check to the head on Blues forward Oskar Sundqvist. But the length of that process dissuaded Wilson from appealing again.
“Last time I appealed, it was what felt like two month, probably a month and a half to even get to the neutral arbitrator,” he said. “So that’s very frustrating from the player’s perspective. It’s not like you get a fair decision tomorrow. You’ve got to go through the whole process and I’m missing those six games anyways.”
He later added, “Out of fairness to myself, I felt like I needed to appeal. After looking at some comparables around the league that maybe got one game, maybe two games, I was like, ‘I have a great case.’ But you appeal to a neutral, it’s not always a hockey guy. It’s not always a guy that understands that that may have been an accident. So there’s a lot that goes into it.”
The Capitals’ playoff push also motivated Wilson’s decision. Wilson’s suspension already kept him out of the lineup for a crucial six-game stretch as the team fought for a playoff spot; an appeal would only serve as a further distraction.
“I just chose to focus on this run,” he said. “I’m not going to New York two weeks from now doing a hearing. I’m not going three or four weeks from now doing another hearing and it’s a huge distraction. I wanted to make sure that my head was in this playoff race with this team and put it behind us.”
For now, Wilson hoped to put the suspension behind him as he prepared for the final stretch of the regular season. He could hardly come back at a more opportune time as the Capitals prepare to face the Pittsburgh Penguins. Though the Washington currently hold the second wild-card spot with 82 points, they, the Philadelphia Flyers, the Detroit Red Wings, and the New York Islanders all sit within two points of each other — while the Pens are closing in at 79 points.
“It’s felt like a long time, so ready to go,” he said. “It’s crunch time and a couple weeks left here, so I’m excited to get back in there and help whatever way I can.”
