Tom Wilson has always been a player who plays on the edge. He is known as one of the toughest guys in the NHL, but over the years, there have also been controversies over various incidents in which he has crossed the line with dirty plays.
On Wednesday, Wilson was back at it with one of the dirtiest plays we’ve seen all year, with Leafs winger Noah Gregor as the victim. The incident occurred with 7:48 remaining of the third period, while Gregor was skating with the puck along the sideline.
As Gregor and Wilson battled for the puck, an obviously frustrated Wilson delivered a vicious one-handed high-stick right in the face of Gregor, who went down in pain.
The video sequence of Wilson’s crazy high stick immediately went viral, with fans reacting strongly to it.
What was even more remarkable about the incident was that Wilson was only assessed a double minor and not a major.
But fans are now calling for Wilson to get suspended, and senior NHL writer Mark Lazerus even went as far as comparing it to Marty McSorley’s infamous attack on Donald Brashear.
”I keep coming back to this Tom Wilson high-stick. And by high-stick, I mean, attempted decapitation. What could possibly be the intent other than injury here? Dude even put his hips into it. This is as every bit as violent as the McSorley head chop on Donald Brashear,” Lazerus said on X, formerly Twitter.
When fans started questioning it, he said, ’Honestly, go back and watch that one. There’s more force behind this one.’
Overall, fans’ assessment of Wilson was harsh. Many, given his history of suspensions and nasty plays, claimed that he deserves a minimum of five games.
