On Friday, Washington Capitals general manager Brian MacLellan spoke about negotiations on a new contract with Alex Ovechkin. He also shared a nuanced take on Tom Wilson’s hit on Brandon Carlo that resulted in a seven-game suspension.
Speaking for two minutes on the hit, MacLellan said multiple times that the entire organization was “frustrated.”
Tom Wilson missed his third straight game on Thursday after being suspended for seven games by the NHL’s Department of Player Safety. But that doesn’t mean his presence wasn’t felt on the ice.
During warmups, TJ Oshie continued the pair’s NHL-best pregame ritual even though Wilson, with his mauled paw, was watching from home.
By Ian Oland 3 months ago
Tom Wilson is currently sitting out seven games after a big hit to Brandon Carlo that sent the Bruins defenseman to the hospital. While the ban comes at a crucial time of the season for the Capitals, Tom and his knuckles will get time to heal for the stretch run.
Wilson recently posted a photo of himself sitting out his suspension and relaxing at home with his princess, Halle. If you look closely at the bottom right quadrant of the photo and enhance, Wilson’s knuckles look like the polar opposite of the man himself: brutal and hard to look at.
Tom Wilson was suspended seven games by the NHL after delivering a hit to Brandon Carlo Friday that sent the Boston Bruins defenseman out of the game and to the hospital. The hit went unpenalized by officials on the ice but DoPS stepped in after the hit was heavily criticized by Bruins media and hockey fans on social media.
Alex Ovechkin said that the suspension was a joke. “On the ice, even the ref said like ‘it’s not two minutes. It’s a [clean] hit.'”
Peter Laviolette said that the decision opened up a Pandora’s Box that any hit that is legal but “forceful and impactful to the player that has the puck” could be suspendible. TSN’s Frank Seravalli noted that the suspension was precedent-shattering and is the first time a player has suspended a player for boarding “on a hit that wasn’t from behind.”
It appears the NHL world largely agrees with the Capitals. Tuesday, while talking about the Wilson hit on the 31 Thoughts Podcast, Elliotte Friedman shared what he heard on the inside about Wilson’s hit.
Last week, Washington forward Tom Wilson was suspended seven games, which was a fair punishment for a hit that injured Boston defender Brandon Carlo. Or, at least, it seemed fair until we learned the NHL Department of Player Safety’s justification.
“We agree that Wilson could deliver a hit on Carlo that does not result in supplemental discipline,” DoPS said. “We acknowledge [Washington’s] assertion that it is common for NHL players to legally deliver hits on unsuspecting or vulnerable opponents. While there are aspects of this hit that may skirt the line between suspendable and not-suspendable, it is the totality of the circumstances that cause this play to merit supplemental discipline.”
“Totality of circumstances” is a trap. It’s a weasel phrase that allows DoPS not to show their work. It turns discipline into a black box that only the Department of Player Safety can see through. You can agree with their conclusion or not, but you cannot understand how they got there.
Many NHL players would have made that same hit on Carlo, who had possession and was definitely eligible to be hit in that moment. Wilson hit hard and high, but he was square to Carlo, and he appeared to coast before the hit. So it’s a hidden confluence of factors known only after the fact (e.g. Carlo’s injury) and mediated entirely through DoPS (e.g. Wilson’s reputation) that ultimately determines suspension.
In 1964 the Supreme Court heard a case, Jacobellis v. Ohio, about a French film that the state of Ohio thought was too obscene to be screened. Justice Potter Stewart described his test for obscenity:
I shall not today attempt further to define the kinds of material I understand to be embraced within that shorthand description [“hardcore pornography”], and perhaps I could never succeed in intelligibly doing so. But I know it when I see it, and the motion picture involved in this case is not that.
This I-know-it-when-I-see-it test is the same one the NHL uses to mete out supplemental discipline. It gives DoPS officers tremendous power only because the NHL rulebook is plainly insufficient about head contact.
Wilson did not receive and did not deserve the benefit of the doubt last week, but NHL players deserve good-faith protection. If the goal of the Department of Player Safety is to actually protect the safety of players, they should ask for a change to the NHL rulebook: Penalize all hits to the head.
By Peter Hassett 4 months ago
Oh, the irony. You could cut it with a knife.
Sunday, Boston Bruins forward Brad Marchand crosschecked New Jersey Devils defenseman Ty Smith in the back of the head. It was just another day at the office for Marchand who is one of the biggest pests in the National Hockey League. But tonight’s play felt especially grating considering an interview he gave two days ago.
By Ian Oland 4 months ago
Washington forward Tom Wilson has chosen not to appeal his suspension, Elliotte Friedman reported on Sunday evening.
On Saturday, the department of player safety suspended Wilson for seven games for his hit to the head of Boston defender Brandon Carlo.
By Peter Hassett 4 months ago
Tom Wilson was suspended seven games by the NHL on Saturday night for his hit on Bruins defenseman Brandon Carlo. The Capitals reacted to Tom’s mega-ban after their morning skate.
Alex Ovechkin pulled no punches in criticizing the league.
By Ian Oland 4 months ago
Washington forward Tom Wilson has been suspended seven games for his hit on Boston defender Brandon Carlo on Friday night.
Wilson had a teleconference with the Department of Player Safety on Saturday evening, which suggested a longer-than-usual suspension was coming.
This will be the fifth suspension of Wilson’s career.
By Peter Hassett 4 months ago
Saturday morning, the NHL announced that Tom Wilson was offered an in-person hearing for his hit on Brandon Carlo, meaning the star forward is facing a suspension of five-plus games.
According to TSN’s Frank Seravalli, the NHL will break precedent when it likely suspends the Capitals right wing. The NHL has never suspended a player for boarding “on a hit that wasn’t from behind.”
