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The Stew: Wilson Incident Was Predictable, Fine and Dandy, RIP Mal & Inch |
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Wilson Incident Was Predictable
I have written several blogs over the years about Washington Capitals winger Tom Wilson. Early in his career, he was utterly reckless and showed a complete disregard for the safety of fellow players in his approach to delivering a body check.
For awhile, dating back to the 20-game suspension he received in 2018 (which also cost him $1.26 million in forfeited salary), he seemed to finally get the message that the purpose of a check is to separate a puck carrier from the puck, not from his head. Slowly but surely, however, the bad hits started to creep back into the way he played and the NHL's Department of Player Safety shrugged it off for a player who long ago forfeited the benefit of the doubt.
It took Wilson going headhunting on the 6-foot-5 Brandon Carlo and sending him to the hospital for the heat on DOPS to be such that Wilson was offered an in-person hearing and got a seven-game suspension.
The message here: DOPS made a lot of noise after the last Wilson suspension (for concussing and injuring Oskar Sundqvist) that future incidents involving him would be dealt with on the order of Matt Cooke or Raffi Torres. The noise, it turned out, was Wilson blowing a raspberry to the league after the nonsense from him began to escalate again. What happened last week was, sadly, predictable.
Additionally, why was there no penalty called? If I were the officiating supervisor in that game, I'd want to know of all four of my officials -- the two refs and the two linesmen -- what, exactly they saw on the play. This wasn't a situation that happened behind the play or well away from the puck. Did the officials communicate here or did they simply decide, "Screw it, we'll let DOPS deal with this."
This mentality, much like "We'll just fix it in replay," has crept into the pro level and it filters right on down through the ranks. It's been distressing as someone who refereed 1,010 NHL games and spent many years thereafter as a supervisor, officiating director and instructor to see how many suspension reviews have arisen the last few years on plays that were clearly seen on the ice but for which no on-ice penalty was assessed.
To be clear there ARE times as an official where you don't see an infraction; sometimes even a seemingly obvious one. At those times, you lean on your partner officials. You trust in one another and you communicate. Maybe you even disagree. But at least: 1) be honest, and 2) have the courage to speak up about what you saw or didn't see.
When no one has the courage to speak up on an officiating team or render assistance, everyone looks bad. As the old saying goes, "To take no action IS an action."
Fine and Dandy
Back when I played in the Jurassic era, fines meant something to players. We weren't making much money, at least most of us, and we were loathe to seeing ANY money taken out of our wallets. Teams used to routinely pay fighting-related fines on behalf of their players, before that practice was outlawed.
Nowadays, though, the $5,000 maximum fine in the NHL is absolute joke. Even players making the league minimum don't blink an eye at it, much less the superstars making the really big bucks. Alex Ovechkin recently made it crystal clear that he was amused -- not deterred -- by the fine he received for spearing Trent Frederic. The Brett Pesce slew-foot on Robby Fabbri wasn't just a "dangerous trip", it looked 100 percent deliberate and match penalty worthy.
I have also seen a decline in teammates standing up for one another. There's a right time/ right way to do it and a wrong time/wrong way, and it seems like many players today, rather than learning the distinction, look the other way and hope the officials address it (and some officials, in turn, hope the league discipline office does it instead).
Last night in Philadelphia, center Scott Laughton got flipped directly onto his head on a center ice face off by Buffalo's Curtis Lazar. It almost took a second to register what actually happened on the sequence but it was a dangerous situation (fortunately, Laughton turned out to be OK). Once again, I'm not sure how there was no call with the play taking place right at the center ice dot. I am also perplexed as to why no Philadelphia player responded, because this was a cut-and-dry situation where the expectation is automatic -- or at least used to be -- that someone stand up for his teammate. That's especially true because I've seen Laughton, in past situations involving a teammate felled by a questionable or dangerous play, be the first man to his defense. Those are the guys whose backs you should MOST want to have, but it should apply to anyone in your team's sweater.
To be crystal clear here; I'm not advocating trying to injure an opposing player nor do I want a return to bench clearing brawls. I am talking about a teammate saying "Do that to my teammate, and there's a battle on your hands." Opponents take fewer liberties when they know the guys on the other side collectively have each other's backs.
The officials had a job to do in that situation, and it wasn't done. Teammates also had a job to do, and that wasn't done, either.
I don't know..... may I really am a dinosaur.
RIP Mal Viola and Gary Inness
I was saddened to learn of the recent passings of Mal Viola and Gary Inness, both at the age of 71. My condolences go out to their families and many friends.
Marilyn passed away after a battle with cancer. She worked for the Boston Bruins organization, the Bruins Alumni and Boston Garden or 32 years. She was a wonderful person -- the kind you were always happy to see because she brightened your day. She and husband Ray were happily married for 50 years.
"Inch" passed away after a long battle with early-onset dementia. I didn't know Gary very well personally, although we crossed paths as opponents in the NHL and WHA during our respective playing careers and I was just beginning the transition from playing to refereeing when he was coaching in the AHL with the Hershey Bears.
Although I didn't know Gary well, I held strong respect for him from everything our mutual friends told me of him. Once he left the hockey world, he became a high school teacher, a scholastic sports coach and a student guidance counselor. He was devoted to his students and to his family -- a lot like my father Bill Stewart Jr. in many ways (which is the greatest compliment I can pay to someone).
People like Mal and Inch made the world a better place because of how many people they helped for the sheer satisfaction of doing right by others.
Blogger •Former NHL Referee • 
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