Whether you agree if Tom Wilson's hit on Zach Aston-Reese was dirty or not, the Capitals power forward once again put his name in the headlines after making contact with the Penguins rookie. After taking out Brian Dumoulin with a hit to the head in Game 2, Wilson struck again on Tuesday night by breaking the jaw of Aston-Reese and issuing him a concussion with the blow.
The question, like many recent potential predatory hits where the shoulder or elbow has grazed the head, was if the head was the main principal point of contact or not. In some of these cases, the opponents’ shoulder can first be hit, before having the shoulder ride up and hit the head because of the momentum.
There’s a ton of other factors that come into play, like if the receiving player was leaning over hunched into the hit, if the player delivering the hit left his feet, and size disparity are just some of the factors that can change the perception of a hit.
Aston-Reese noticed Wilson coming, and put his shoulder up to mitigate the contact, but because he was so hunched over, Wilson’s shoulder eventually made contact with his head. Some angles show Aston-Reese's head being the first point of contact, while others appear to show his shoulder was hit first. Either way, it's incredibly close.
On Wednesday night, Wilson was suspended three games for the hit, as the NHL determined that his head took the majority of the contact.
Here's their explanation of the call.
Wilson hasn’t done himself any favours over his career by playing on the edge of what’s legal and illegal. It’s no secret there’s a ton of grey area when it comes to dissecting these types of plays, and Wilson is one player that constantly gets caught in between the blurred lines.
Considered disobedient on the ice, Wilson was suspended twice in the preseason. Since he’s come into the league, Wilson has the most penalties at 255 with 58 of those being majors. He’s had close incidents most recently in Round 1 with Oliver Bjorkstrand, and run ins with John Moore, Conor Sheary and Nikita Zadorov and Brian Campbell just to name a few (you can go to YouTube and see them for yourself) over his career.
One player that knows a thing about controversial plays was former Blackhawks, Coyotes and Kings enforcer Daniel Carcillo, who offered up a multi-tweet take the Wilson hit on Aston-Reese.
Based on the replies to the thread, it seems like Carcillo has a pretty good understanding of what occurred, but then again, it's totally dependent on your perception of the hit.
Could we see him pursuing a job with the NHL Player Safety Department one day? According to Carcillo, likely not.
Do you agree with Carillo's take that Wilson purposely left his feet to land the hit? Carcillo recently announced he's pledging his brain for doctors to one day study in hopes of getting a better understanding of head trauma. Over his nine-year career, Carcillo was suspended and fined for a total of 12 times. He's now become very outspoken on the subject of concussions in hockey, and its mental health ramifications, as well as if the NHL is doing enough to protect and support their players that suffer from injuries stemming back to their playing days.
Do you agree with Carcillo's take and/or the suspension length? Let us know in our Facebook comments.
