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Let’s talk about Tom Wilson

By Steve Paulus

Colin Blackwell #43 of the New York Rangers checks Tom Wilson #43 into Dmitry Orlov #9 of the Washington Capitals Credit: Bruce Bennett/POOL PHOTOS-USA TODAY Sports
Colin Blackwell #43 of the New York Rangers checks Tom Wilson #43 into Dmitry Orlov #9 of the Washington Capitals Credit: Bruce Bennett/POOL PHOTOS-USA TODAY Sports /
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May 3, 2021; New York, New York, USA; Tom Wilson #43 of the Washington Capitals yells at the New York Rangers bench after taking a second period penalty at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Bruce Bennett/POOL PHOTOS-USA TODAY Sports
May 3, 2021; New York, New York, USA; Tom Wilson #43 of the Washington Capitals yells at the New York Rangers bench after taking a second period penalty at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Bruce Bennett/POOL PHOTOS-USA TODAY Sports /

Tom Wilson’s history

Tom Wilson has been penalized more than another players since his debut in 2013.  He has 333 regular season penalties of which 72 have been major penalties.  He has had 16 misconducts and two match penalties.   No other player in the NHL is even close to those numbers.  He has been fined only twice by the NHL and he has been suspended five times.

Here’s a history of his shenanigans.

  1. December 2013 – Ejected for boarding the Flyers’ Brayden Schenn.  He had a phone hearing, but there was no discipline.
  2. April 2015 – Wilson injured Islander Lubomir Visnovsky in a playoff game, getting only a charging minor. Visnovsky missed the rest of the series while Wilson got no discipline.
  3. December 2015 – Wilson got a match penalty for a hit to the head of the Senator’s Curtis Lazar, but the match penalty was rescinded and he didn’t serve the mandatory one game suspension. The league never explained why.
  4. December 2015 – Wilson was ejected for boarding Panthers defenseman Brian Campbell. There was no further discipline.
  5. April 2016 – Wilson hit  Colorado defenseman Nikita Zadarov, concussing him. He wasn’t penalized for the hit.
  6. April 2016  – Wilson kneed Conor Sheary on the way to the bench. He wasn’t penalized but was fined $2,900 by the NHL.
  7. December 2016 – Wilson hit Devils defenseman John Moore from behind into the boards.  Wilson got no penalty while Moore had to be removed on a stretcher and missed 17 games with a concussion.
  8. September 2017 – He was suspended for two preseason games for a hit on Blues Robert Thomas.  Eight days later he boarded Sam Blais of the Blues, getting a major penalty and a game misconduct.  He was suspended for the first time for the first four games of the season.
  9. Spring 2018 – Wilson was involved in four plays during the Caps Stanley Cup run.  He was penalized for charging Columbus’ Alex Wennberg but got no further discipline. He then knocked Penguins Brian Dumoulin out with a head shot, but got no penalty or discipline.  Later in that series he hit Zach Aston-Reese in the head, giving him a broken jaw and concussion. He was suspended for three playoff games.  In the Final he blindsided Vegas’ Jonathan Marchessault, but was not penalized.
  10. October 2018 – In the Caps last preseason game he blindsided the Blues’ Oskar Sundqvist with a headshot.  Sundqvist suffered a concussion and hurt shoulder.  Wilson was finally suspended for 20 games, the longest suspension in the NHL in  three years.
  11. March 2021 – Wilson hit he Bruins’ Brandon Carlo with his shoulder, driving his head into the glass.  Carlo was taken to a Boston hospital and Wilson was not penalized.  The league held a hearing and suspended Wison for seven games.

Could he get a fine or suspension from the NHL?  Listen to why he was suspended for the hit to Brandon Carlo.  Here’s what they said in their explanatory video:

“This is a player with a substantial disciplinary record taking advantage of an opponent who is in a defenseless position and doing so with significant force.”

While they were talking about a hit, it’s a perfect description of what Wilson did to Artemi Panarin.

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