Matt Cooke is back and he changed his name to Tom Wilson. The Capitals forward is in trouble yet again. This time it is for his blindside hit on Oskar Sundqvist. It’s a favorite of Tom Wilson just like it was with Matt Cooke.
“How hard can I hit this guy when he’s not looking?…
The answer is of course as hard as they possibly can. This will be the sixth incident in the last calendar year that the league has had to look at involving Wilson.
Here's another look at the Tom Wilson hit from front row seats by the penalty box (Video: @HPayneBliss) pic.twitter.com/SzZrxaXVzA
— RMNB (@russianmachine) October 1, 2018
Tom Wilson's hit on Oskar Sundqvist. Wilson received a match penalty. pic.twitter.com/gseYif7Fz4
— Ian Oland (@ianoland) September 30, 2018
Nevermind that this wasn’t a playoff game, it wasn’t a regular season game, it was a meaningless PRESEASON game.
Capitals media are falling into the same patterns that a lot of the Pittsburgh media did. Every new illegal hit is met with mind bending reasoning that only makes sense to those who cheer for the same team as the offender. They will talk about how it is difficult for that player to walk that thin line. The thing is Tom Wilson is not even attempting to balance his actions because there are never any meaningful consequences. Matt Cooke didn’t change until the league started giving double digit consequences and even then he still got in trouble. Tom Wilson’s 2018-19 cap his is in the 5M range, but the majority of it is in signing bonuses which the league won’t be taking even if they suspended him for the year.
There is no reason for Tom Wilson to change. At least not yet. He has an in-person hearing on Wednesday morning. It opens up the possibility of a huge suspension. What is a huge suspension for Wilson? Whatever the real answer is the NHL will come up short. The NHL is at fault for Tom Wilson. They are feeble and pathetic with how they handle player safety.
Here is the latest example of their negligence
Here’s a look at #stlblues Oskar Sundqvist’s facial damage today from Tom Wilson hit on Sunday night. (Credit @jthom1) pic.twitter.com/njT2379ZFV
— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) October 1, 2018
Even the Penguins and the media in Pittsburgh stop defending Matt Cooke. Has enough been enough with Tom Wilson?
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Here is a Metropolitan Division preview
NEW PODCAST: Metropolitan Division preview https://t.co/Blz5Ki9I83 pic.twitter.com/BA8deExUBK
— Ryan Wilson (@GunnerStaal) October 1, 2018
Thanks for reading!