The New York Rangers are not happy with the NHL right now. The team was involved in a massive brawl with the Washington Capitals this week, and Capitals player Tom Wilson punched Rangers player Pavel Buchnevich in the back of the head while he was facedown on the ice. Wilson also threw Rangers star forward Artemi Panarin to the ice, and the NHL opted to not suspend Wilson. He was fined $5,000, and the Rangers sent a message to the league demanding that NHL Department of Player Safety George Parros be fired.
“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,” the Rangers said in a statement. “Wilson is a repeat offender with a long history of these types 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 his current role.
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When the NFL had a dirty player, Vontaze Burfict, they kept increasing punishment which resulted in a 12-game suspension, the longest ever.
Meanwhile, the NHL opted to hit their serial-offender, Tom Wilson, with only a $5K fine… when his salary is $5M. pic.twitter.com/JEgVwpk4r2
— Sports Law Lust 🎙️ (@SportsLawLust) May 4, 2021
The Rangers revealed that Panarin suffered a lower-body injury and is out for the rest of the season. After the fight, Wilson was given two minor roughing penalties and a 10-minute misconduct. He returned the game in the third period and scored a goal to help the capitals earn a 6-3 win. But this is not the first time Wilson has had issues with player safety. Back in March, Wilson was suspended for seven games due to a hit that injured Brandon Carlo of the Boston Bruins. Overall, Wilson has been suspended five times with the previous four coming in a 105-game span from 2017 to 2018.
“We all saw it. There are lines that can’t be crossed in this game. There’s just zero respect for the game in general. You got one of the star players in this league now that could have gotten seriously, seriously hurt in that incident,” Rangers coach David Quinn said after the game. “You all saw what happened, and it happens time and time again with him. Totally unnecessary.”
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