- Feb 10, 2010
- 13,631
- 10,260
They.
Aren't.
Legal.
Hits.
Look at the picture I just posted. He hit him square in the chest. Square. Carlo was looking at the puck. Head down.They.
Aren't.
Legal.
Hits.
I think the big thing that is bugging a lot of people is that yes, the rules are deliberately written in a vague manner, but this is the first time they've applied them in this way.
If TW gets suspended for hits we've seen dozens of times around the league without penalty, hearing or suspension then I think it's understandable to be frustrated that they're shifting the goalposts for him.
I'm in that camp while also thinking it is a bad hit - this is just another case of the league floundering when it comes to player safety.
The league needs to start being clear, consistent and proactive if they want anyone's respect on this IMO
/facepalm
I don't know how else to say it. I really don't. But I'll try.
OF COURSE IT'S BOARDING BECAUSE PER THE RULE LANGUAGE EVERY HIT ON THE BOARDS CAN BE CALLED BOARDING.
JFC was that not clear from the last post? Or the hundreds that have come before dealing with the way the rule is written? Most LEGAL hits COULD be penalized as Boarding per the rule's language. That's by DESIGN. So any determination of Boarding on THIS hit is relatively MEANINGLESS!
Again, any disclaimer or rule that's open-ended is usually going to benefit the party that writes it. The NHL wrote the rule so nearly ANY hit that's worth a shit can be penalized based on the ref's interpretation. Go read the f***ing rule. I've posted it here probably dozens of times over the years, and 2-3 times this week.
The REAL issue is whether supplementary discipline was warranted, and per the NHL's statement they could've gone either way. But because of head contact with the boards that was arguably partly Carlo's fault (head dropped at last instant) and because of BEING TOM WILSON (reputation, history), they decided to suspend for 7 games instead of ZERO.
So what does all this mean? It means a hit that may not even have been suspendable IF it wasn't TOM WILSON is instead a 7 game suspension because TOM WILSON.
The rules are so broad that all hits are potentially penalties, and who you are or resulting injury becomes the measure of legality. This is 100% bullshit and should not be the standard.
If you want hitting in the game you have to accept the dangers. Period. These are not teenagers figure skating. They're grown men playing professional hockey. They know the risks.
This is an optics move by the NHL. That's it.
You are making a reductio ad absurdem argument.
There is no slippery slope here that logically leads to making all hits illegal...
-BECAUSE-
...there is a clear and objective distinction between Wilson's conduct and the conduct of every other player. The difference is huge.
In fact it is so huge that virtually everyone on hfboards recognizes this obvious distinction, except a small gaggle of Capitals fans.
Remember when Evander Kane knocked a Cap the f*** out and the league took no action?
No suspension.
This league is heavily inconsistent. When players hit the Caps and injure them there is nothing more than what is administered on the ice. No DOPS punishment. IIRC Kane got nothing for that.
But when Willy hits somebody it is a 7 or 10 or 20 game suspension. "Repeat offender". News flash Kane is a repeat offender.
ah so Hayes is able to slam into Skinner with a dirty hit but there's no penalty
meanwhile Wilson taps somebody and it's f***in 7 games
do you not see the hypocrisy at work here? the DoPS more like DPOS
Lets make this clear. Are you saying that injuries from legal hits are Wilson's responsibility and he should not make those legal plays? There was no fines. No suspensions for all 3 of those plays. All resulted injuries and games lost.
A couple of reminders for context.
About to head out but if the league ONLY punishes Wilson and nobody else for the exact same hits ther eis a clear double standard and it's hypocrisy. And the league should be called out on it.
These plays all should have been disciplined, I agree with the grievances posted here.
Jeff Skinner was not sent to the hospital on this play, and returned to the game shortly after the hit.
Yes. The easy question is how many games does Wilson get for all of those. The Oshie thing would have been 40 games.
I would guess if they were using the calculation they used for the Sundqvist hit, it would be around 30 regular season games since they double the previous suspension and added 2. Since it was in the postseason I don't know how they would have handled it exactly, given their weird 2x multiplier for playoff games vs. regular season games.
Either way, a 30 game suspension would have been warranted IMO for Tom Wilson.