Don Cherry is usually among the first people to defend physicality in the game of hockey and no one in the NHL plays a more physical style than Tom Wilson, but even Grapes thinks the Washington Capitals forward could benefit from pumping the brakes.
Wilson has been suspended multiple times in his career for illegal hits and was tossed from a game Friday night after being called for an illegal check to the head of New Jersey Devils winger Brett Seney.
“Let me tell you something, you’ve put yourself in a spot now, if you do that silly, stupid thing again like that, out of nowhere hit that guy like that… they’re just waiting for you for the next one,” Cherry said Saturday during the Coach’s Corner segment of Hockey Night in Canada.
Wilson recently finished serving a 14-game for a pre-season headshot he landed on Oskar Sundqvist of the St. Louis Blues, but isn’t expected to face any supplemental discipline for the Seney play.
“I’m not saying stop hitting. You gotta keep hitting,” Cherry said before adding Wilson should stop it with the borderline hits because he’s constantly in the spotlight and runs the risk of getting suspended again as a repeat offender.
The 24-year-old has 13 points in the nine games he’s played this season and he has scored at least one goal in five consecutive games. All that is to say Wilson is far more valuable to the Caps on the ice than he is when he’s suspended.
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