Capitals’ Wilson fined $5K for roughing Rangers’ Buchnevich
Washington’s Tom Wilson was fined but not suspended for his actions during a post-whistle scrum in New York, an outcome the Capitals are ready to move on from and the Rangers feel isn’t sufficient punishment for one of hockey’s most polarizing players.
The NHL fined Wilson $5,000 Tuesday for roughing Rangers forward Pavel Buchnevich during the second period of a game Monday night at Madison Square Garden.
The fine is the maximum allowable for the incident under the collective bargaining agreement, and Wilson was not disciplined for throwing Artemi Panarin to the ice moments later.
New York’s Ryan Strome called it a “joke” and said he thought “the league missed one here big time.” The team’s statement was even stronger, calling Wilson’s behavior a “horrifying act of violence” and targeting NHL senior vice president of player safety George Parros for his inaction.
“Wilson is a repeat offender with a long history of these type 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,” the Rangers said.
“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 in his current role.”
Wilson was given a double-minor penalty for roughing and a 10-minute misconduct. The fine represents 0.12% of Wilson’s $4.1 million salary for this season.
Seattle Kraken launch foundation focused on youth homelessness
SEATTLE — Months before their first game, the Seattle Kraken have launched the club’s One Roof Foundation in partnership with Climate Pledge Arena.
The foundation announced Tuesday will have three primary areas of focus: youth homelessness; youth access to hockey; and environmental justice.
“We’re really coming at this from an impact angle, which to me is ever more exciting because you can actually figure out here’s some really big issues in our society, how can we lean in and help address them?” said Mari Horita, vice president for community engagement and social impact for the Kraken, who will also serve as executive director for the foundation.
The youth homelessness focus will build on the team’s partnership with YouthCare to help with funding, visibility and job support. The youth hockey aspect will include partnering with local schools and youth organizations to help make both floor and ice hockey more accessible.
Horita said the environmental justice portion is still being developed but is about “elevating the voices of and investing in those communities that are historically disproportionately impacted.”