Beyond my earlier commentary about having personal investment in other sports activities involving me and family more than the Caps, I am starting to get really PO'd about something. It's the ever-increasing whining of other teams about Tom Wilson.
Wilson has a talent that is pretty rare. He is very efficient at leveraging his body mass when hitting someone. That's why he tends to hit people harder than almost all other NHL players hit people. And that is why, in conjunction with his projectable hockey skills, that he was drafted #16, significantly higher than he would have gone otherwise, by that GM who didn't know an effective hockey player if he saw one, George McPhee (If you listen to lots of cranky fans.)
The NHL front office has been continually reining in the latitude with which Tom Wilson operates. And as far as engagement of an opponent's head, I'm fine with that. But it is getting ridiculous, and this latest whining about his hit on Marchasseault last evening is especially nonsensical. There was NOTHING technically wrong with the mechanics of that hit. It might have been a little late, and worthy of an interference penalty, but that is what penalties are for, NOT suspensions. Vegas needs to shut up and play, facing the fact that Wilson is a pretty unique Capitals asset whose capabilities Vegas is going to have to overcome if they want to win the Cup. They CAN do it; I've said over and over that my view is they are the favorites in this series. This constant whining to try to further and further restrict what Tom Wilson is allowed to do, or more of interest, to try to get him suspended and take away the Capitals' asset, is getting very, very old. "Boo hoo, Tommy hit me too hard."
Wilson's primary problem, I think, is that in his first few years he was primarily a 4th liner, so he was most often engaging with other limited-minutes, limited-skills players. Now as his hockey skills are developing and he has been moved to the first line, his attentions are much more often targeted toward the glamour players on opposing teams, and they don't like having their time and space taken away in the manner Wilson employs. Wilson HAS refined his techniques as the NHL has clamped down on predatory hitting, but this constant whining about hits that are clean mechanically is nothing but self-serving and begging to negate an advantage that an opponent is too cowardly to face up to.
Whatever happens with regard to disciplinary behavior, no one can take away Tom Wilson's unique capability to leverage his body mass. Tom, keep playing the way you are. If the NHL is going to cave to opponents' woe-is-me attitude toward you and try to make you obsolete, that is their problem, not yours.
