The New York Rangers were not pleased with the decision from the Department of Player Safety this morning. The league decided not to suspend Tom Wilson after the incident in last night’s game, and the Rangers have released a statement in response:
The New York Rangers are extremely disappointed that Capitals’ forward Tom Wilson was not suspended for his horrifying act of violence last night at Madison Square Garden. Wilson is a repeat offender with a long history of these type of acts and we find it shocking that the NHL and their Department of Player Safety failed to take the appropriate action and suspend him indefinitely. Wilson’s dangerous and reckless actions caused an injury to Artemi Panarin that will prevent him from playing again this season. We view this as a dereliction of duty by NHL head of player safety, George Parros, and believe he is unfit to continue in his current role.
Parros has been with the DoPS since 2016 and took over as head of it in 2017. He has been routinely criticized for an inconsistent approach, but this is the first time a team has publicly called for his dismissal.
Wilson, who was suspended earlier this season for seven games, was given a $5,000 fine for roughing Rangers’ forward Pavel Buchnevich. The league has still not released any information or decision about the rest of the incident, which resulted in Panarin’s injury. Emily Kaplan of ESPN reported that the league saw everything after the Bunchnevich punch as “two guys wrestling, which happens every night.”
The Rangers announced this morning that Panarin would not play again this season after suffering a lower-body injury in the melee. The team has three games remaining and will finish their regular season schedule on Saturday. Tomorrow night, the Rangers and Capitals are set to face off again.
Good for the Rangers
How much money do you think Buttman, Daily and Campbell fine Dolan/JD?? I say $250,000……..and it’s NBCSN game and it’s in NYC and the hole NHL knows that the Rangers are going to call up MASON GEERTSEN and AUSTIN
RUESCHHOFF to go after Wilson
Wow. That’s a bold statement that I don’t disagree with, but am surprised to see
The biggest reason behind Wilson’s antics is Ovie. Ovie was notorious for taking runs at players early on. Wilson does this to appease Ovie and others on the team. It’s rather obvious. You can’t tell me that if Ovie said Tom you can’t keep running players that Wilson wouldn’t stop. Or the fact that the front office hasn’t said a word to Wilson. If his owner or front office don’t bother with him then what is the NHL office going to do?
You always want a former goon in the position of player safety. (Eye roll).
But Wilson is sadly getting into Raffi Torres, Steve Downey territory. Doesn’t seem to know where the line is between being physical and downright dirty.
well said. Parros was a goon.
Apparently still is one……
It really is going too far and $5k means nothing to him when his contract is based on being a goon. Wilson will do something like this again and I hope the opposing team skates off the ice and refuses to finish the game.
Getting into? How many times has Wilson done this exact same thing? 40 or 50? The Rangers should make sure Wilson and Ovi are done for the year. Screw this Eye for an eye. If the NHL doesn’t give a shit, then the Ranger should take matters into their own hands.
Lundqvist got fine the same amount for squirting the water bottle at Bettman’s lapdog Sidney a few years ago.
Props Rangers. not willing to shut up and stand by like most sports teams.
Horrifying?
@ski44 – Bread nearly landed head first. If that had happened, there would be talk of criminal charges and a permanent ban.
Yeah, horrifying.
I would recommend watching the takedown of panarin in slow motion. It is a scary scene to imagine a few inches difference and he could’ve ended Panarins career.
@rhymo – Already did it – multiple times. And it’s not an overstatement to say it could’ve ended Bread’s career. That is definitely not nightly NHL “wrasslin.”
Absolutely horrifying. For the transgression of poking at a goalies pads, which Wilson and all of his teammates and the rest of the freaking league routinely does every time the goalie traps the puck in his pads in the crease, Wilson takes it upon himself to punish Buchnevich by pulling him face first to the ice with his stick on the back of his neck. Buchnevich was already tied up by Dowd and van Riemsdyk In the process, Buchnevich was totally defenseless because he had his arms trapped beneath him. Wilson begins to pound the back of Buchnevich’s head while his face is on the ice. Easily could have severely injured Buchnevich. Panarin was sanding next to all of this. Neither Dowd nor van Riemsdyk moved from Buchnevich’s legs. Nothing would have stopped Wilson from pounding Buchnevich senseless if Panarin would not have grabbed Wilson and pulled him off of Buchnevich. For this transgression, Panarin is pulled off of Wilson. This allowed Wilson to gain his skates, circle around the new scrum and go after Panarin. He proceeds to knock Panarin’s helmet off then grabs Panarin by his hair and body slams him onto the ice. Wilson is still is not done. Wilson proceeds to pick Panarin up turn his body and tries to slam his face off of the ice and would have begun to pummel Panarin on the back of his helmetless head with his face on the ice if not for Wilson being pulled off of him and finally stopped by the linesmen. Very lucky neither man suffers a very serious injury. Yes horrifying……
How about leagues start suspending players w/o pay for the length of time an opposing player is out with injury due to that player’s actions whenever they’ve penalized and/or fined? Something I’d like to see in all sports, but especially in hockey and football.
I could see how that would have its own issues. I look at the Edler knee on Hyman, it wasn’t a dirty play but warranted a short suspension, not a long one. Injuries can be part of the game. Now in the case of Wilson-type players (dirty, repeat offenders) I could see how him being out as long as his victim would work.
It’s a nice idea in theory but it would be really hard to use in practice. An injury is a difficult thing to define as players all have different pain thresholds or ideas on what would keep them out of a game. How long would it be before a player stays ‘out’ with their ‘injury’ just to keep the opposing player who injured them on the sidelines?
Words…
How about just doing something about it? #89 picked himself up and jumped on top. I’ve said this forever-please take out the instigator penalty. Let the players police themselves.
One guy on my staff said his lifelong dream is a bench clearing brawl at a U.S. Outdoor Game.
Can you imagine that Mac Jab?
@Dave – Say, at Lake Tahoe, for instance? That’d settle things down a bit! Those were the days. We always used to wait for the goalies to rush into it, as the rest of the carnage was going to be predictable. Let the players police themselves – Agreed. Take out the instigator penalty – Agreed again. Unfortunately, we now have a group of referees that will interject themselves into the game, and muck everything up. And, I don’t think we’ll get clean playoffs this year because of it.
Wilson, to a large extent, is a creature of the cause and effect of putting the instigator penalty in. And this kind of thing will only get worse if the anti-fighting crowd gets its way.
If during Wilson’s first shift of every game he had to drop the mitts with the other teams tough guy, I think he would get weary of taking runs at players.
We all know who my bro in law is. The summer family picnic is a sight. More turbulent that Gus and Bunny. Goonie Goo Goo from Eddie Murphy would be proud.
Wilson should be suspended for for what he did to Buchnevich, not for what he did to Panarin. I don’t know what Panarin was thinking when he jumped on Wilson’s back. That was really stupid. Wilson was already unhinged. Jumping on Wilson’s back was only going to anger him more. That was never going to end well for Panarin. Jumping on an opposing players back is dangerous and never a good idea.
Just as big of an issue is the Washington coach, players and all management.
After every one of Wilson’s suspensions and fines they say he did nothing wrong.
I’m sorry to say, but for this Franchise to tell Wilson to clean up his act- it’s going to take somebody putting Backstrom, Ovi or Carlson out long term with a “wilson cheap shot” .
I agree with you there. Everybody rips Marchand for his antics, but he has actually been a lot better the past few seasons. Why? Because Bruins management sat him down after the licking incident against Tampa Bay in the playoffs & told him that he needed to cut the stupidity and play smarter. The Caps need to do the same with Wilson. At some point, you have to take a stand because it will come back to haunt them when someone takes out Carlson or Backstrom in retaliation
Marchand is no saint he still is a dirty player and smart player wellTake his linemates away an we would see how much of a dirty player he is as well a top rated scorer.for licking players I think guys in the NHL told to smarten the F up now that should have been giving a good smash in the face it makes me wonder about him…
The actions of the so-called “Department of Player Safety” are so arbitrary and capricious that the league should shut the current institution down and start over. It’s a complete joke.
Rangers should dress and call up any goon they have. They are eliminated and have nothing to lose. Islanders did it years back against the Pens. But I wouldn’t be shocked if Wilson isn’t in the lineup vs the Rangers
It would be wise to keep Wilson out. We shall see if the Caps are wise.
Wilson will play. If they sit him he’ll look like a pussy
Why Wilson is not scared of the big bad Rangers…sorry not bad..it will be bettman who makes that decision …
Wilson isn’t scared cause he runs when challenged. He only hits those who aren’t looking. Damn coward is what he is
No doubt in my mind the decision by Parros was guided by TV ratings. Having Wilson play in tomorrow night’s national NBCSN broadcast will probably make it the highest rated game of the year. I’m sure some NBC exec had Bettman’s ear last night putting pressure on them to go easy on Wilson.
And it’s going to work. I haven’t watched a single Rangers or Caps game this year but I’m going to tune in tomorrow to see how wild things get.
As for Wilson, he’s a danger to everyone on the ice. It’s only a matter of time before he ends someone’s career. I only hope someone does it to him first (and I don’t say that lightly).
Why should Bettman care about NBC? They are done with NBC after the season.
Rangers Need some Ty Domi for a few games
I was thinking the same. Out of retirement for a game.
The Rangers drafted Steve Durbano, Moose DuPont Barkley Plager,Battleships Kelly, back in the day
I remember when Durbano and Battleship were with the Pens. Durbano was nuts. Would have loved to see it but was listening on the radio whe Durban was sent to the box again. Took off a skate and chucked it across the ice towards the opposing bench. I think he did that more than once in his agreed.
Wilson continues to injury players and he’s not getting a good enough message. Bruins Carlo hasn’t played again yet that POS plays and screws with players livelihood…
You have to break it down. What Wilson did to panarin was actually part of the “wrestling” that does indeed happen every game. The difference is he slammed his head into the ice (ONE). And after that, panarin looked like he lost his footing and dove at Wilson’s legs. At that point, the cross checks to the head and neck area are also inexcusable. (TWO)
As for the buchnevich part of the incident. He made a conscious decision to slam and pin his head to the ice and continue delivering cheapshots. (THREE)
Wilson should absolutely be suspended indefinitely. Parros should be removed. And further, Wilson should probably be banned altogether because he continually puts the safety of other players at risk. He’s never going to stop. That’s three suspendable actions in one altercation on top of being a repeat offender.
By the way, anybody else notice the referee standing there watching it all unfold while leaning on the net? How much does this nuisance goon get away with before the officials step in?
It would be amazing if other teams released statements of support for the Rangers statement. Looking at you Boston!
What the hell is the NHL thinking? Parros for player safety is hilarious.
So I will try this again I guess your way is the only way…So plain and simple wilson bigger than paranin so he can rag doll him.Rangers get tougher not softer and this would not of happened. To call for someones job ya right way to go Parros a yale grad not smart enough. Well i heard it all now on here..to end hopefully this comment is satisfaction for people who run this site…
He is a Princeton graduate. I am going to go out on a limb here and say that based on your comment ( absurd) that you said Yale because Princeton was a no go spelling wise. What he did is even being lambasted by tough guys and goons. But I guess your extensive gm experience will show the nyr the error of their roster building.
This is such an idiotic comment. Really. Just dumb
Your not commenting on my comment I hope?
Don’t mind him. He was too dumb to become a professional clown so now he does it for free on the internet.
Your right wrong school i should of put Princeton but spelling. HMMM. As for tough guys pissed at him well retired must of them and back when they all played they handled their own S***..Right.. So league is soft thats why superstars think they can jump into a scrum without getting hurt…wake up people..as for Wilson plays way over the edge. Yes but let someone jump on all of your backs and see if you all dont go nuts ..oh ya you all would say its a superstar stop..
Paul Kariya or Pat LaFontaine or Eric Lindros should run player safety, not a cementhead.
Also, it seemed to me that this was a bad decision by the league…and THEN I found out these teams play again tomorrow GUARANTEEING that their will be mayhem and, since Wilson is bigger, another Ranger will probably get hurt trying to dish out the justice Parros didn’t.
Crazy.
Tom Wilson is a joke. He’s bad for the game. You have guys like brad Marchand who are scrappy but Marchand isn’t out on the ice looking to injury guys. What Wilson did, he’s looking to end guys careers. No one should respect his style or his game. Suspend him for the remainder of the regular season and playoffs and let him come back next year
Really super crazy, actually.
Even if the league doesn’t care about it’s players safety at all…if Tom Wilson attacks a Ranger tomorrow night and ends their career, there isn’t a jury that won’t hold the NHL liable.
Exactly. Unless Washington sits Wilson, tomorrow is going to be a fiasco. One NHL could have avoided even with a simple one game suspension. What a joke.
Tom Wilson isn’t Matt Cooke or Shawn Avery. He took a couple liberties with a couple jabs. If he does that to Reeves no one bats an eyelash. The two probably fight and that’s that.
Rangers make it sound like Panarin is gonna need reconstructive surgery by calling it a “season ending injury” when their season ends literally in less than a week and they’re eliminated from the playoffs. I mean if McDavid had a hang nail and the Oilers were out of the playoffs I bet management rests him the last week too. If Panarin’s injury is serious I’ll eat my words.
What are we talking about here? You got guys on the ice a lot smaller than Wilson that can’t fight back effectively, that’s really it. He’s a big, middle-six power forward that’s a bully so just go get somebody that can deal with him and leave the league out of it instead of calling bloody murder when a guy gets thrown down in a hockey game. Throw him in the box, give him a fine, let him face the music in the next game. Oh wait, the Rangers don’t have anybody to prevent them from getting bullied around? Me thinks an off-season acquisition is coming along.
maybe the Rangers trade for Zadorov Im not sure if my Hawks are keeping him, hes an RFA
Someone in charge of the rules for the league should be fired for their inability to foresee this situation. Here we’ve got a guy with an infraction list longer then the number of comments on this article getting the same $5k as a first time offender who gets his penalty because the opposing player pulls a Crosby and takes a dive and then stays down to sell it.
I propose exponential increases, like the NFL did for Burfict. And maybe the players union can learn from that and realize that they need to stop defending this bum because he’s purposely injuring others you’re supposed to represent.
Why don’t we just get pink jerseys for all the nhl players that can’t fight and all the quarterback that can’t take a hit! It was a hockey fight! Can’t take it don’t get involved! Fights used to be alot worse, noone needed a note from their moms back then.
Does your wife, or sister, or whatever you refer to her as agree with this sentiment? Or have you slammed her head into the ice too many times to think straight?
“Fights used to be alot worse”
Yeah, and goalies didn’t have helmets, iron workers walked beams without tie-off, and firefighters didn’t have respirators. Slavery was legal. Get with the times bro, if a guy wants to beat another guy to a pulp with potentially lethal actions on a regular basis, there are other sports for that.
Wilson should only be held accountable for the Businevich hits. Once Panarin jumped on Wilson’s back that was a separate, self defense issue with Panarin being the instigator. He gets what he gets.
A lot of this is due to the hysteria of NY fans who think the world revolves around them. If he had done the same thing against Vancouver nobody would care.