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Tom Wilson cries he’s being unfairly targeted by officials

NHL.com

Following two controversial calls in consecutive games, Washington Capitals forward Tom Wilson is feeling frustrated.
In Thursday’s contest against the Montreal Canadiens, Wilson was issued 17 penalty minutes after fighting Michael Pezzetta and receiving the instigator penalty. Two days later, Florida’s Givani Smith threw a punch at Wilson from the Panthers’ bench after his shift had already ended. When Wilson responded from the ice, the two earned matching minors. Wilson flipped out in the sin bin while his head coach Peter Laviolette was furious at the officiating staff from behind the bench.

The Caps’ forward can’t make sense of it and blames the officials for unfairly targeting him. “You know what? Honestly, I don’t really know what’s going on like rules-wise,” Wilson said after the game against Montreal. “The other night, I ask a guy to fight, I square up and get 17 minutes. I get punched from the bench on a line change and we kill three consecutive penalties. It’s tough.”

On Saturday night, Wilson was once again penalized when he retaliated after being hit from the Panthers’ bench, and the officials decided to give both Smith and Wilson two-minute roughing penalties. Wilson did not begin the altercation, nor did he commit an infraction from the bench.

The Capitals’ enforcer was shocked at the officials’ response.

“Honestly, that was the first time [I’ve ever been punched from the bench],” he said. “I don’t know what the rule is. I thought if you get punched from the bench off the ice it’s probably a game misconduct. We go four-on-four, and then we kill two or three penalties, I don’t know what it was, for the rest of the period.

“It was obviously a big game for them but we’re still trying to win games. That was a little frustrating. It’s never happened. I maybe should not have reacted but if you get punched from the bench, you kind of react with the territory.”

That’s the thing Wilson, you always seem to have an excuse for why you behave the way you do. Wilson plays a physical game and needs to understand that it comes the territory.

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Special treatment ends here for the Maple Leafs…

The Athletic

Earlier in the day, the Toronto Maple Leafs had two unidentified goaltenders on the ice for their morning skate Tuesday, ahead of that night’s game against the Tampa Bay Lightning. The team managed to recall Joseph Woll by using the Roster Emergency Exemption (REE), something they were unable to use on Monday after the NHL deemed that conditions for it were not met.

The Leafs finally got the league to allow them to recall Woll despite cap complications, but it sounds like the Leafs are the only ones to blame here. Darren Dreger explained on last night’s Insider Trading on TSN how the NHL might not make changes in the CBA going forward despite the mess in Toronto.

« It’s not going to lead to an imminent change but what it leads to is more speculation and discussions among NHL clubs, specifically NHL general managers. When you’re a cap team like the Maple Leafs, you’re probably looking at that predicament and recognizing that that this is the most important position on the roster.

So it could be that the NHL, inside the collective bargaining agreement with the players’ association, create a specific emergency recall scenario for goalies only. Or at least more allowance and flexibility in what is a very rigid system right now that governs that emergency recall.

For the Maple Leafs, there was an argument that they put themselves in that situation by signing rookie Matthew Knies to his first NHL contract, but they could not control the concussion that goaltender Matt Murray suffered. So, it’s no question it’s problematic and there will be more dialogue required. »

The Leafs did not have the cap space to recall Woll, however the REE allows for a recall with no cap hit.

The Leafs surely couldn’t predict the injuries in between the pipes, but you got to have some room for desperate situations like this! All 31 other teams appear to be able to do so…

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Terrible development in Tanner Pearson’s alarming situation

NHL.com

Vancouver Canucks forward Tanner Pearson has had a tough road to recovery. On Tuesday, Rick Dhaliwal of Donnie and Dhali — The Team reported that Pearson had to undergo 6-7 surgeries so far to repair an injury that has been a controversial subject for some time now.

“Pearson was shut down with a hand injury on January 12th, he hurt the hand on November 9th. The latest on Pearson is that he has had 6-7 surgeries so far and the hope is he is done with surgeries. The re-hab is still a long road ahead for Pearson, still too early to know if he will play next season,” explained Dhaliwal.

Earlier in the season, defenseman Quinn Hughes had expressed his frustration towards the way Pearson’s injury was handled, blaming the Canucks for what is happening to his teammate.

“I feel bad for him. I mean, it wasn’t handled properly and you know, it’s not really a good situation he’s got there and hopefully he’s going to be alright,” Hughes said.

Dhaliwal also reported that there is a serious threat that Pearson’s career might be over, and if that’s the case, he will likely file a grievance against the Canucks.

“If he can not play again, I expect a grievance to be filed. It is uncertain if he will play again. The Canucks will have to defend themselves if he is prevented from another contract.”

Pearson came to Vancouver in a trade from the Pittsburgh Penguins back on Feb. 25, 2019, in return for defenseman Erik Gudbranson.

Pearson is under contract through the end of the 2023–24 season at a $3.25 million annual cap hit. He’s played parts of five campaigns with the Canucks, but has gone through his most heartbreaking year with the team this past season.

We can only hope the series of surgeries are now a thing of the past, and he can focus on getting better to return to action.

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Golden Knights exposed in controversy ahead of postseason!

Twitter

There are only a few days left to the 2022-23 regular season, and the Vegas Golden Knights have only a game left to their calendar, taking place on Thursday. The Knights have already secured a playoff despite being without star forward Mark Stone for most of the season.

Stone hasn’t played since mid-January due to a back injury that has plagued him over the past few seasons. He had to undergo surgery at the end of January, he was since listed as out “indefinitely.”

But here’s the twist.

Earlier this week, the captain was back on the ice with his teammates, skating in a non-contact sweater, after reportedly making progress over the past few weeks.

But you know what this sounds like. This is the Nikita Kucherov controversy and the Golden Knights are caught in it since Stone has returned to practice with the team.

You may remember how Kucherov returned for the postseason after missing the 2021 regular season while being placed on LTIR. The move enabled the Tampa Bay Lightning to maximize their salary cap spending, and according to the rules, Kucherov was eligible to return for the postseason, but wouldn’t have been able to play in the regular season. Since players are not paid in the playoffs, Lightning GM Julien BriseBois was able to re-insert Kucherov into the lineup, despite being 18 million dollars above the salary cap.

With the Golden Knights’ current cap hit of over $96 million, thanks to $14 million in LTIR relief, it means when the playoffs start, they can activate Stone’s contract at a $9,5 M cap hit without any repercussions. Insider Frank Seravalli saw right through them and his report got people talking.

Do you think the league should put a cap limit during the postseason to prevent controversial moves like this?

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Pending first suspension for the playoffs!

Hockey Daily

It was an ugly finish between the Winnipeg Jets and the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday night, one that could lead to a suspension that could stretch into the postseason.

In a game that could have been a playoff contest, thins got ugly down the stretch with Jets head coach Rick Bowness and Wild coach Dean Evason were even jawing at each other.

However, what caught the attention of the NHL’ Player Safety department was Wild forward Ryan Hartman levelled Nikolaj Ehlers with an open-ice, shoulder-to-shoulder hit after Ehlers went after superstar Kirill Kaprizov, who was taunted all night long by fourth-liner Saku Maenalanen. Hart Hartman drew a double minor for roughing and interference, but on Wednesday morning, he was informed that he will have a hearing lately today for Interference against Ehlers.

The Wild only has a game to play, at Nashville on Thursday night, and if Hartman is suspended to more than one contest, it will have to miss some playoff time.

It will be determined later today. 

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Penguins pull waiver move amidst playoff streak in jeopardy!

NHL

The Pittsburgh Penguins have placed defenseman Mark Friedman on waivers on Wednesday.

This is not the first time this season Friedman has been put onto the waiver wire. He is signed through next season at a cap hit of $775,000. 

Friedman has played in 23 games this season and has recorded a goal and two assists for three points.

The Penguins could be moving pieces for a better lineup ahead of Thursday’s last game of the season against the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Ahead of Tuesday’s action, the Penguins could guarantee their playoff participation with wins over struggling clubs Chicago Blackhawks that same night, and theackets on Thursday.

However, they ended up losing 5-2 to the Hawks and now the Penguins have left their playoff hopes in the hands of the New York Islanders, who could steal the last spot in the East with a win over the Montreal Canadiens tonight.

If the Canadiens do them this major favour, then Pittsburgh can only hope for a win in Columbus on Thursday to get them through.

Friedman’s entire cap hit will be removed if he clears at tomorrow noon’s deadline and is assigned to the AHL, though it isn’t much more than the league minimum.

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A distraught Sidney Crosby sounds off ahead of do or die matchup!

NHL.com

Ahead of Tuesday, the Pittsburgh Penguins could guarantee their playoff participation with wins over struggling clubs Chicago Blackhawks that same night, and the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday. Instead, they bowed down 5-2 to the Hawks and now leave their playoff hopes in the hands of the New York Islanders, who could steal the last spot in the East with a win over the Montreal Canadiens tonight. If the Canadiens do them this major favour, then Pittsburgh can only hope for a win in Columbus on Thursday to get them through.

When asked about their playoff streak being in jeopardy, captain Sidney Crosby could only be honest about the uncertainty of the next few hours.

“It’s not a great feeling. I think it’s a situation where you just gotta make the best of it and prepare the same way today, and hope that we get another chance.”

After last night’s poor effort, Crosby prefers to forget about it and focus on what can be done with the last game of the season.

“You just gotta move by it, and hope that we get another opportunity here. It’s one of those things, you just gotta mentally prepare as if you’re going to get that opportunity.”

This has to be tough mentally for a veteran like Crosby, and even forward Evgeni Malkin and defenseman Kris Letang.

The jeopardy is a real threat. If in fact the Penguins come up short of a post-season invitation, it will be just the second time in Crosby’s career that the team has done so… the last time coming during Sid’s rookie season in 2005-06.

The Penguins will be watching the Islanders and Canadiens’ game tonight, no doubt about that!

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Bruins forced to take precautionary measures ahead of postseason

Spectrum Local News

The Boston Bruins have already set the modern NHL record for most wins in a regular season campaign with 63, and goaltender Linus Ullmark has played a huge role in his team’s incredible success. A surefire nominee for the Vezina Trophy as the NHL’s top goaltender, he’s enjoyed a career best 40 wins combined with a sparkling 1.89 goals against average, .938 save percentage and two shutouts. 

However, there was a bit of concern during last night’s game, a 5-2 victory over the visiting Washington Capitals at TD Garden. Ullmark was removed from the game midway through the third period and replaced with Jeremy Swayman; Ullmark appeared to have tweaked something while making a save. 

The good news is that according to head coach Jim Montgomery, Ullmark is “fine” and that removing him from the game was simply a precautionary move. 

“Just precautionary,” Montgomery said. “He’s going to be fine. Just some muscle-tightening. That’s all.”

Even so, the team has made a roster move, calling up goaltender Brandon Bussi from the American Hockey League affiliate Providence Bruins. Meanwhile, Ullmark will not be traveling with the team for their final game against the rival Montreal Canadiens tomorrow night. 

“Linus is good today. But we’re going to be precautionary with him,” Montgomery said.

Bussi has amassed a record of 21-5-4 with a 2.38 goals against average and .925 save percentage in 31 games played with Providence this season. 

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Bruins reveal David Krejci’s status for Game 1 of postseason

NBC Sports

Boston Bruins veteran forward David Krejci has missed the last six games with what is being described as a lower body injury, and he also won’t be in the lineup for his team’s regular season finale tomorrow night against the Original 6 and Atlantic Division rival Montreal Canadiens. 

The good news is that Boston, who has already set the new National Hockey League record for wins in a single season with 63, can afford to have him sitting out. And the even better news is that he will in fact be in the lineup soon. According to head coach Jim Montgomery, Krejci will be good to go when his team hits the ice for Game 1 of their opening round postseason series. 

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Red Wings nominate Robby Fabbri for major award

Ilitch News Hub

The Detroit Red Wings lost forward Robby Fabbri last month during a game against the Chicago Blackhawks to what was clearly a lower body injury; that was especially concerning given the fact that Fabbri has suffered a torn ACL at multiple points during his career. In fact, he missed the first half of this season while recovering from offseason surgery to correct the torn ACL he suffered nearly a year ago. 

It wouldn’t be long afterward that the team would announce that Fabbri would be finished for the remainder of the regular season, which comes to an end this Thursday night against the Tampa Bay Lightning. The organization and fan base are certainly hoping that Fabbri will be healthy enough to start next season. 

But before that starts in the fall, the Red Wings have given a nod to Fabbri’s perseverance through injury by nominating him for the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy, which is awarded annually to the player “who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to ice hockey.”

In the 28 games that Fabbri played in this season, he lit the lamp seven times along with adding nine assists and 22 PIM. In 330 career NHL games split between the St. Louis Blues and Red Wings, he’s racked up a total of 80 goals with 88 assists. 

He’s in the first season of a three year, $12 million extension he inked with Detroit.