GDT: Cup Champs v. Blues: Sunday, Sept. 30th

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EroCaps

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Aug 24, 2003
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Silver lining, I hope he misses a month, learns his lesson, and the Caps get cap relief they can use at the trade deadline.
 

Hivemind

We're Touched
Oct 8, 2010
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Silver lining, I hope he misses a month, learns his lesson, and the Caps get cap relief they can use at the trade deadline.
You don't get cap relief from a suspension. He still occupies a roster spot and his cap hit still applies (even if its the NHLPA Emergency Players Fund receiving the cash instead of Wilson).
 

Capsman

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Nov 21, 2008
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Wilson is clearly trying to make the hits more than simple mass times acceleration force. He is rising into them, and in this particular case (which was different from the Aston-Reece case), he rose before contact. It was a bad hit, and was unnecessary.

Based on his sheer size, he can make the points about coming across the middle with head down with a straight on hit, shoulder to shoulder.
 

marcel snapshot

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This was the most confusing, and yet clear post I've ever read.
Yep - exactly what I was going for.

Wilson is such a special player. That play he makes at the beginning of Game 7 where he flattens Kunitz, gets the puck to Kuzy, who feeds Ovie for a goal - there are just not many guys in the league that can make that play. That was another example of him catching up via back-check to hit a guy - difference is Kunitz was moving north-south, and Sundquist was going east-west, so less chance of it turning into a hit gone wrong there. And not only is there less risk associated with the hit because Kunitz is moving north-south, the risk that's there is worth it because it's Game 7 of the semis, not Game 7 of the fricking pre-season.

I think this stuff would would be better handled by just going to strict liability for high hits that impact the head, regardless of whether the head is targeted or not. That will reduce the number of borderline hits that injure heads. It doesn't matter that Wilson isn't targeting the head at this point - too many of his hits hurt opponents' heads. You could say "Keep your head up," but the NHL sees what happened to the NFL, and they don't want to be in that soup. So "keep your head up" is no longer a viable approach to this stuff.

Now that kind of strict liability approach will lead to more players doing fake heads-snaps, like that VGK D-guy (McNabb?) - so that would have to be policed closely.
 

Ridley Simon

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First time I am really disappointed and angry at Tom. That was stupid. In all facets:
Pre-season game
DoPS is obv watching him now due to loffs
Takes focus away from team accomplishments
Another suspension closer to a *really* long one (20+)

Freaking idiot move
 
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kicksavedave

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First time I am really disappointed and angry at Tom. That was stupid. In all facets:
Pre-season game
DoPS is obv watching him now due to loffs
Takes focus away from team accomplishments
Another suspension closer to a *really* long one (20+)

Freaking idiot move

This. Harder to give him the benefit of any doubt anymore about intent, he doesn't appear to be making any effort to stop these hits. And at this point he's just hurting the team, not helping. The roster juggling that will have to take place to replace him for 5,10, 15 games or whatever the DoPS decides will suck. And whatever the DoPS decides, it will be hard to argue with their decision.

I want Willy to smash people, legally. He needs to be on the ice to do that and he's taking himself off the ice. Stupid, Willy, Stupid!

Also, I do hope Oscar is OK. Blues coach says he's in rough shape and the pic of his face after the hit isn't good.
 

Alexander the Gr8

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Wilson really needs to dial it down. He would be such a perfect player if he took that shit out of his game. I don't think he will ever learn, unless the league hits him with a 10+ game suspension.
 

maacoshark

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First time I am really disappointed and angry at Tom. That was stupid. In all facets:
Pre-season game
DoPS is obv watching him now due to loffs
Takes focus away from team accomplishments
Another suspension closer to a *really* long one (20+)

Freaking idiot move
I agree. I think a lot of Caps fans are getting fed up with Wilson.
 

Alexander the Gr8

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Next on your Dale Hunter hate list?

I mean, Dale Hunter is not hard to dislike. Even for some Caps fans. We're talking about a guy that did something that would've gotten him permanently banned from hockey if it happened today.

I digress but Wilson needs to clean up his act. Don't want him to follow Hunter's path at all.
 

maacoshark

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Next on your Dale Hunter hate list?
Probably not. I hated Hunter before he became a Cap. Wilson started as a Cap so I will be a bit bias.
Both players have crossed the line at times. The things Hunter did was premeditated. Wilson's problem is that he is reckless. I hope he can learn to tone it down. Might not matter. He has earned the reputation of being a guy that goods for headshots. Might be difficult to shake that reputation.
 

CapitalsCupReality

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He’s hard to dislike if you watched his entire career here. Warts and all. He’s but one of many players in all sports who crossed the line. I’d be perfectly fine with Wilson toeing/sometimes crossing the line his whole career. It’s what makes him a game changer.

Would rather not see him make hits like this one because he’s too valuable to be out long.
 

maacoshark

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He’s hard to dislike if you watched his entire career here. Warts and all. He’s but one of many players in all sports who crossed the line. I’d be perfectly fine with Wilson toeing/sometimes crossing the line his whole career. It’s what makes him a game changer.

Would rather not see him make hits like this one because he’s too valuable to be out long.
Are you saying Hunter is hard to dislike if you followed his entire career? If so I disagree. I followed him through his entire NHL career. Hated him with Quebec. Hated the trade. Once he became a Cap I really tried to like him. I actually did start to like him as a player until the Turgeon incident. I thought he went way too far. He went well beyond crossing the line.
 

Alexander the Gr8

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He’s hard to dislike if you watched his entire career here. Warts and all. He’s but one of many players in all sports who crossed the line. I’d be perfectly fine with Wilson toeing/sometimes crossing the line his whole career. It’s what makes him a game changer.

Would rather not see him make hits like this one because he’s too valuable to be out long.

Frankly I'd rather not see a dude get his jaw shattered a few times per year. At the end of the day it's just a game, and it hurts to see some young guy playing a game having to eat food through a straw.

Delivering a hit like that in the pre-season game for the second consecutive year is absolutely senseless. Why would you demolish a dude like that in a pre-season game? This isn't game 7 of the SCF...
 

artilector

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I'm not angry at Wilson.

Firstly, he played this way (walking right on the line) in playoffs, and this aspect of his game definitely played a role in winning the Cup (not even individual big hits, but the threat).

Secondly, I think it's objectively pretty difficult for him to eliminate these kind of consequences altogether. I think he'd have to take out like 50% of the hitting out of his game -- basically all the hits that happen at high speed and/or against moving targets -- where he can't fully control the point of impact. Ovi went through the same thing (on a different scale), and it was difficult.

Finally, regarding moral outrage, there's a strong flavor of historical absurdity here -- Wilson would be an NHL god like 10-15 years ago for the same fans that want him stoned or whatever. Also, just for context, Wilson is just approaching an age where most men begin to mature... He's 24 and on top of the world -- of course he needs to be knocked down a few pegs to settle down. Same as most (in that situation).

I can see the perfectly valid angle of "you have to find a way to stay on the ice to help the team", but frankly, I don't really care about that until playoffs.
 
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maacoshark

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Frankly I'd rather not see a dude get his jaw shattered a few times per year. At the end of the day it's just a game, and it hurts to see some young guy playing a game having to eat food through a straw.

Delivering a hit like that in the pre-season game for the second consecutive year is absolutely senseless. Why would you demolish a dude like that in a pre-season game? This isn't game 7 of the SCF...
He has to learn how to avoid making contact with the head.
If Wilson hit the guy in the chest or shoulder on that play it would have been a clean hit but he still would have demolished him and there he still could have been injured. I have no problem with Wilson demolishing the guy. Just keep it clean.
 

RaindanceMaggie

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Was it a great hit ? No but its par for the course after the Kempny injury that the league clearly didn't care about. 1 reg season game and some pre season in exchange for a concussed player from a blatant headshot. Wilson sent a message and unfortunately will probably sit for awhile.
 
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maacoshark

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Was it a great hit ? No but its par for the course after the Kempny injury that the league clearly didn't care about. 1 reg season game and some pre season in exchange for a concussed player from a blatant headshot. Wilson sent a message and unfortunately will probably sit for awhile.
You dont send a message with an illegal hit. You want to send a message then hit him clean or drop the gloves. And if you are sending a message go after the guilty party. Sundqvist wasnt guilty of anything.
I dont think Wilson was trying to send a message. It was a reckless play.
 

hb12xchamps

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Just throwing this out there. Interestingly enough, both Ryan Whitney and Biznasty on the Spittin Chiclets podcast thought the hit was okay but predicted 3-5 games because it’s Wilson and the league is trying to get rid of vicious hits like this. I think Whit said something along the lines of you can’t skate to the middle with your head down and that he though his head moved a bit when he saw Willy coming which made it worse
 

maacoshark

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Just throwing this out there. Interestingly enough, both Ryan Whitney and Biznasty on the Spittin Chiclets podcast thought the hit was okay but predicted 3-5 games because it’s Wilson and the league is trying to get rid of vicious hits like this. I think Whit said something along the lines of you can’t skate to the middle with your head down and that he though his head moved a bit when he saw Willy coming which made it worse
The only problem with the hit was that he got him high which is a no no in today's game. If he didnt make contact with his head Sundqvist still would have been destroyed. Sundqvist did put himself in a vulnerable position.
 

Ridley Simon

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I'm not angry at Wilson.

Firstly, he played this way (walking right on the line) in playoffs, and this aspect of his game definitely played a role in winning the Cup (not even individual big hits, but the threat).

Secondly, I think it's objectively pretty difficult for him to eliminate these kind of consequences altogether. I think he'd have to take out like 50% of the hitting out of his game -- basically all the hits that happen at high speed and/or against moving targets -- where he can't fully control the point of impact. Ovi went through the same thing (on a different scale), and it was difficult.

Finally, regarding moral outrage, there's a strong flavor of historical absurdity here -- Wilson would be an NHL god like 10-15 years ago for the same fans that want him stoned or whatever. Also, just for context, Wilson is just approaching an age where most men begin to mature... He's 24 and on top of the world -- of course he needs to be knocked down a few pegs to settle down. Same as most (in that situation).

I can see the perfectly valid angle of "you have to find a way to stay on the ice to help the team", but frankly, I don't really care about that until playoffs.

I’m certainly not morally outraged. I’m frustrated and a bit angry that he didn’t keep things toned down for the preseason. I’m certainly past defending it.

Sure, it helped in the playoffs (when he was actually able to play), but it also won’t matter a lick as he’s closing in on Raffi Torres half a season type suspensions. Heck, that might now be only 2 more of these “types of plays” away.

So regardless of the history of the sport, the current doesn’t have patience for this. Right or wrong, he needs to get that. And if it means change his play for the majority of the year, then he has to. Or he will be watching the team, like the rest of us.
 
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Alexander the Gr8

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He has to learn how to avoid making contact with the head.
If Wilson hit the guy in the chest or shoulder on that play it would have been a clean hit but he still would have demolished him and there he still could have been injured. I have no problem with Wilson demolishing the guy. Just keep it clean.

Apparently that's too much to ask of him.
 

RandyHolt

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Nov 3, 2006
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I feel like players leaving themselves vulnerable to hits is a major factor. Hits are so rare now, that almost no one is on guard for them. Ironically, the league slowly taking hitting out of the game, sure seems to have led to more concussions than ever.

Now we may know why.

No one protects themselves, because they don't have to. Protecting oneself has become players turning towards the boards or focusing on diving before the contact.

Remember MJ doing flybys all year, and then decides to demolish a DMan in game 82 gearing up for the playoffs, and absolutely destroys them.

Lack of self preservation should be considered in suspensions.

I wonder how many years would it take for an unbridled Willy to take out every player in the league.
 
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