Tom Wilson somehow managed to record an Olympic Gordie Howe hat trick in Canada’s 10-2 victory over France on Sunday. To earn the fight portion of that three-step achievement, Wilson tussled with French defenseman Pierre Crinon, who, it turns out, is no stranger to rough stuff.
Crinon, who plays for Brûleurs de Loups in the top French league, Ligue Magnus, was reportedly a controversial selection for France’s Olympic roster due to some of his on-ice actions back home. Earlier this season, Crinon was suspended for seven games by the league after repeatedly punching a maskless opposing goalie, injuring the downed netminder’s eye.
Crinon, who is teammates with former Washington Capitals forward Nicolas Deschamps in France, has never had a season in which he had more points than penalty minutes. This year, he has 66 PIMs in 29 games, which would put him on pace for 187 PIMs in a full 82-game NHL schedule. That total would have ranked sixth in the NHL last season, just above Wilson (178).
The Reims, France native previously had a short stint in North America as a junior player during the 2014-15 campaign, playing one game in the USHL with the Sioux City Musketeers and 42 games with the NAHL’s Corpus Christi IceRays. He recorded 10 points (3g, 7a) and 108 PIMs before returning to France the next year.
Crinon is also familiar with dropping his gloves, having done so many times over his 13-year professional career. There are several of his bouts on YouTube, in particular, from his one-year stint in the Slovak Extraliga with HK Dukla Trenčín.
After his encounter with Wilson on Sunday earned him an ejection, as fighting in the Olympics is prohibited, the 6-foot-4, 220-pound rearguard was called in by the French Ice Hockey Federation to review his overall conduct. Crinon taunted Wilson and the crowd as he left the ice.
“Following the expulsion and Pierre Crinon’s attitude during the France-Canada match, Pierre-Yves Gerbeau, president of the FFHG and deputy head of the delegation, will summon the sanctioned player as early as tomorrow to shed full light on this incident, in the presence of the DTN and the staff,” Hockey France tweeted Sunday, as translated via Google Translate.
Crinon attended that interview with the FFHG, and the governing body decided to suspend his participation from the rest of the tournament. France plays Germany in a single-elimination playoff qualifying matchup on Tuesday.
“Pierre Crinon’s provocative behavior upon leaving the ice, even though he had just been ejected from the game for fighting, constitutes a clear violation of the Olympic spirit and also undermines the values of our sport,” FFHG’s statement reads, as translated via Google Translate. “Consequently, a decision has been made, in full agreement with the French National Olympic and Sports Committee, not to allow his participation in the upcoming Olympic tournament game(s).”
Wilson is expected to continue his tournament with Team Canada, not playing again until a February 18 quarterfinal matchup against the winner of the Czechia-Denmark qualifier. Wilson’s Canadian teammates and head coach Jon Cooper were very appreciative of him stepping up against Crinon, who had thrown a head hit on superstar Nathan MacKinnon earlier in Sunday’s game.
