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Tom Wilson Ejected After Crushing Open Ice Hit on Oskar Sundqvist; Suspended 20 Games


Phil

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I'm fine with these hits.

 

Keep your head up.

 

Dudes skating along the blueline looking at this skates. I dont see head contact.

 

I hate this pussification of defending guys that dont follow the first rule you learn in hockey (for your own safety) - Keep your head up!

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I'm fine with these hits.

 

Keep your head up.

 

Dudes skating along the blueline looking at this skates. I dont see head contact.

 

I hate this pussification of defending guys that dont follow the first rule you learn in hockey (for your own safety) - Keep your head up!

I hate Wilson, but I agree here. Hard to tell if he directly went for a headshot, but made the hit by-the-book. Maybe some think there's an unspoken gentlemen's agreement to not make a hit like that, but that's how guys like Tom Wilson and Radko Gudas make their money. Ugly-looking, but it's part of the game as of now.

 

Sent from my Z981 using Blueshirts Brotherhood mobile app powered by Tapatalk

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:tweet:@NHLPlayerSafety

Washington’s Tom Wilson has been offered an in-person hearing for an Illegal Check to the Head on St. Louis’ Oskar Sundqvist. Date and time TBD.

 

5+ games coming for that scumbag. Looking at the video, this didn't look like one of his dirtiest hits but whatever gets him off the ice is fine by me. Idiot most likely won't be part of the banner raising ceremony on Wednesday.

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:tweet: @brianlawton9

I think we can debate all day long that a player should have his head up as he cuts to the middle of the ice but have some folks lost their minds from what I am reading today? The @NHL has been very clear that these are suspendible events! Period. Hits to the head under (cont)

any circumstances are what the @NHL is trying to get out of the game because the vast majority of current players want it out of the game for 1 reason only PLAYER SAFETY and ultimately the players are better off going this route than not! I don't believe @NHL has had a (cont)

change of direction over the summer nor should they. I also don't believe it is a conspiracy to get any one player. Just the rules. Nothing good comes from hits to the head. I think everyone is getting comfortable with that fact. Player safety and is should be a main priority!

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Protecting these “victims” won’t help the issue, only ruins the game

 

No, it doesn't. Clinging to archaic traditions that have proven to shorten lives and ruin the quality of life of former players does.

 

The NHL, in this case, is like any democracy. Don't like it? CHANGE IT.

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No, it doesn't. Clinging to archaic traditions that have proven to shorten lives and ruin the quality of life of former players does.

 

The NHL, in this case, is like any democracy. Don't like it? CHANGE IT.

Players are bigger and faster than they’ve ever been. Understand.

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Yes, which has only amplified the damage done by shots to the head. Read literally any CTE study. I get that I ride the fence on this given that I continue to support fighting while simultaneously condemning head shot hits, but I also support fewer occurrences of both.

 

Sundqvist should have had his head up, but I'm done with this being an acceptable excuse for hits that we know shorten lives. I don't care that he was staring at his feet. I just don't. I care about his health, and I care about the well-being of future players more than I care about keeping the most violent versions of body-checking in the game. If that's all chalked up as "puscification," so be it. I'd rather the game "puscify" than have to try squaring away CTE-induced suicides ten, fifteen, twenty years from now.

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I'd prefer it wasn't the case but that's the way it is now. It's difficult for the major sports to address this but they NEED to. Until then, guys need to be aware. It's funny, the commentators during the SCF talked about Wilson as a deterrent physical force that kept Vegas in check, then he'll make hits like this and what do they say now? How much is too much, what's justified?

 

Sent from my Z981 using Blueshirts Brotherhood mobile app powered by Tapatalk

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I have more time for Wilson than most, but this is just stupid.

There's enough precedent set that you simply can't hit guys in the head. The big guy hitting a small guy defense isn't adequate and hasn't been for a long time. You would've thought Wilson learned his lesson after the hit on Aston-Reese in the playoffs, but clearly not.

I don't mind guys with their heads down being taken out, but if you can't be sure you're not going to connect with the head you can't make the hit. Simple.

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Yes, which has only amplified the damage done by shots to the head. Read literally any CTE study. I get that I ride the fence on this given that I continue to support fighting while simultaneously condemning head shot hits, but I also support fewer occurrences of both.

 

Sundqvist should have had his head up, but I'm done with this being an acceptable excuse for hits that we know shorten lives. I don't care that he was staring at his feet. I just don't. I care about his health, and I care about the well-being of future players more than I care about keeping the most violent versions of body-checking in the game. If that's all chalked up as "puscification," so be it. I'd rather the game "puscify" than have to try squaring away CTE-induced suicides ten, fifteen, twenty years from now.

 

CTE will come from Sundqvist's bad habit, not the Wilson hit.

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its the first thing you learn when you step on the ice

 

You keep repeating this, but are you open to the possibility that it is not always (or even often) that keeping your head up is the first thing a little kid should be thinking about when picking up a stick and going out to the pond? It is also not typically a part of the reason any kid is inspired to try the sport.

 

I don't know about most kids, but in both places I grew up there weren't any coaches or parents providing coaching tips at the pond. Nor did anyone think much about ways to avoid one of your friends purposely delivering an head shot, let alone an unsuspecting one. We just were kids trying to play hockey, have fun and such. We get out there when we could, if we waited for our parents to supervise we'd have rarely got out.

 

First things learned?? Learning to skate, skating with the puck, skating backwards, shooting, etc. Passing the puck back and forth on a rush and shooting on a goalie was the shit. When we could get decent ice and enough kids to get a game together we cared about doing good things with the puck, scoring and winning. No one needed to learn to protect themselves from a guy you know on the other team skating around trying to end or disrupt the fun by annihilating one of the guys.

 

These days checking and learning to check are not even taught till well beyond the skating, stick-handling, passing, shooting, defending, goaltending, team play, positioning, sportsmanship and other aspects and skills. Beyond practicing and the mechanics of the game, many love hockey for the beauty, finesse, high skill level, speed and athleticism of the game. Many do not want to see the skilled play and players diminished by using irresponsible or unmitigated brut force, attempts to injure, cheapshot tactics and head shots.

 

Lastly, when the mantra "you must be in control of you stick at all times" took hold, sticking incidents decreased and penalties became more consistent. The same needs to be communicated about head shots. Not the keep your head up message.

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Keeping your head up is more than just seeing a check. And you'll always see me complain when guys put themselves in vulnerable positions.

It's very important to one's career and livelihood to do this. Things happen on the ice, its a fast game - mistakes, accidental contact, head shots, etc. Limit it as much as possible. But, I am 100% against the trend of staring at your stick. Eventually you are going to get caught, whether its Wilson or Mike Keane.

 

I'm sure there will some suspension. I think this is an over-reaction because it's Wilson. If Smith threw this hit, "we'd" be looking at this differently.

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