i love Wilson, but I am getting tired of his borderline hits. He made a stupid play last night that put the team at risk. At the very least it should have been a minor with Vegas on the PP. It could easily have been a 5 minute major. And now, the day after focus is mostly on the Wilson hit instead of the Reeves play - which would have given us some leverage with the refs.
Again, I love Willy, but he’s got to stop the stupid stuff!
Why would you even think that was a 5 minute major? There was nothing technically wrong with the hit. The contact was not dangerous, the boards weren't involved, and Wilson didn't try to drive him into anything. It was shoulder on shoulder and over instantaneously. The only thing that happened was that Marchasseault (sp?) took a forceful seat on the ice. If there was anything dangerous about the play, it was due to the hardness of the ice (which apparently was softer than usual) and the fact that anytime anyone tumbles there is always a chance for something to get bruised or twisted. But there was nothing egregious about it. The reason that Wilson's hits look spectacular is that he has an understanding of how to leverage his body mass better than virtually anyone else in the league, even within the rules of the game. But if checking is as much part of hockey as, say, shooting the puck, then a guy who can check well by leveraging his body mass has no less legitimate a skill than someone who can shoot the puck hard and accurately. And we know that being on the receiving end of a shot puck can produce serious injury in the same way that receiving a check can.
I understand, given the recent attention to brain injury, the concern about getting head shots out of the game. But beyond that, illegal checking is just like any other illegal act -- subject to penalty, but should not be subject to all this hoopla, suspension, etc. At this point, the reason teams are complaining is that they hope to eliminate a Capitals asset if they whine loudly enough -- and that's just a coward's way of trying to win.
