Editorial

Tom Wilson Fined $5,000 For Roughing Pavel Buchnevich, Not Punished For Slamming Artemi Panarin

(Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

David Hookstead Sports And Entertainment Editor
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The NHL should be embarrassed by the league’s handling of Tom Wilson’s inappropriate conduct.

The Washington Capitals defenseman has been getting universally dragged and criticized after he appeared to pin Pavel Buchnevich’s neck and head to the ice Monday night against the Rangers. (RELATED: David Hookstead Is The True King In The North When It Comes To College Football)

He followed up that insanely dangerous action by slamming Artemi Panarin onto the ice, which could have caused irreparable damage.

The NHL announced Tuesday that Wilson’s punishment would be nothing more than a $5,000 fine for “roughing” Buchnevich.

According to Emily Kaplan, the NHL viewed Wilson slamming Panarin onto the ice as “two guys wrestling, which happens every night.”

I want to meet the person dumb enough to honestly believe what Wilson and Panarin were doing was nothing more than wrestling.

The NHL should be embarrassed by this decision. I love hockey, but as long as stupid decisions like this are being made, I don’t want to hear about how the league cares about safety.

Cleary, that’s not the case at all. If the NHL was serious about player safety, Wilson wouldn’t be playing for a very long time.

The NHL needs to figure it out and figure it out quickly.