Player Safety hammers Tom Wilson with whopping 20-game ban

It seems the NHL has had it with Tom Wilson.

The league’s Department of Player Safety sent shockwaves through the hockey world before opening night, suspending the notorious villain for 20 games for his predatory blindside hit on Oskar Sundqvist of the St. Louis Blues in last Sunday’s preseason game.

For proper context, it’s officially tied for the eighth-longest suspension in NHL history, and equal to the ban handed down to Todd Bertuzzi for his infamous and life-altering sucker punch on Steve Moore in 2004.

And it is by far the most significant statement made by George Parros since he took over as the league’s disciplinarian.

Unlike his decision to in some ways spare Max Domi for his sucker punch on Aaron Ekblad earlier in the preseason, the ban levied on Wilson has satisfied many of those who clamour for harsher penalties in light of all we have learned about head injuries and long-term impacts of concussions on athletes and former athletes.

While gross, the hit on Sundqvist in a vacuum is not what actually cost Wilson a quarter of the season and over $1.25 million in total salary. Instead, Parros attributed his decision to the “unprecedented frequency” of infractions from Wilson in the context of Player Safety.

His reputation in the NHL office has been earned with four suspension-worthy acts in his last 105 games alone. It was just 12 games prior to the Sundqvist hit, and during Washington’s championship run, that Wilson was levied a three-game ban for breaking the jaw of Pittsburgh’s Zach Aston-Reese with a high elbow.

From a financial standpoint, and due to the terms on the lucrative and somewhat questionable six-year extension he brokered with the Capitals, the suspension means that Wilson won’t actually earn another dollar this season. Having banked most of his $5 million salary up front through signing bonus, the $1.26 million-plus he stands to forfeit is actually more than he was set to earn throughout the remainder of the season.

It’s possible that Wilson can organize a successful appeal, and have the suspension trimmed down from 20. But taking back a few extra games doesn’t change that this was an exceptional decision from the league office and one designed to instil reform.

Whether Wilson gets the message, well, we’ll find out sometime in late November.

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