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The New York Rangers’ pointed statement calling for the head of George Parros, the NHL s dean of discipline, may go down as the most expensive words typed in hockey history.
The Rangers were fined $250,000 by the NHL on Thursday – or $2,212 for each of the 113 words, still nothing that billionaire owner James Dolan will lose sleep over.
But it is among the heaviest fines in league history, considerably more than the $100,000 levied upon the San Jose Sharks in 2013, the last team to publicly disagree with a disciplinary decision.
In the NHL’s view, it was one thing for the Rangers to disagree with Parros’ decision to fine but not suspend Tom Wilson for Monday’s melee at Madison Square Garden, but another to call it a “dereliction of duty” and claim that Parros is “unfit to continue in his current role.”
When you strip away the social media shouting, including the New York Rangers’ statement released on Twitter Tuesday night calling for the firing of NHL Department of Player Safety head George Parros, what we learned about Tom Wilson as a result of Monday’s melee at Madison Square Garden could be distilled to a pair of indelible images.
The first: Wilson mockingly flexing in the penalty box after injuring Artemi Panarin.
The message was clear. Throw out the stories about Wilson changing his game and rehabilitating his image as hockey’s human predator missile. Wilson’s Incredible Hulk impression told everyone that he’s a player with no interest in backing off a line he has historically straddled.
After a Monday night clash that saw Capitals enforcer Tom Wilson wade into controversial territory yet again, spurring a condemnation of the league's Department of Player Safety by the Rangers, the two teams return to the ice Wednesday night to reignite the rivalry.
Rangers’ Artemi Panarin out for rest of season after incident with Wilson
Tom Wilson crosschecked a defenseless Pavel Buchnevich in the back of the head before slamming a helmetless Artemi Panarin to the ice and punching him in the face. Wilson then flexed in the penalty box afterwards before being sent off the ice.
Sportsnet Staff | @Sportsnet May 4, 2021, 1:34 PM
Artemi Panarin will miss the New York Rangers‘ final three games of the regular season due to an injury suffered on Monday night during an on-ice brawl incited by Washington Capitals forward Tom Wilson.
Panarin, who was thrown to the ice multiple times by Wilson during the skirmish, left the game with what the team called a lower-body injury.