Evgeni Malkin Head-Hunted TJ Oshie, The NHL Said It's Ok, Tom Wilson Will Have The Final Decision
There’s no denying that Malkin hit Oshie square in the head. The NHL is trying to really come down hard on head shots, as we know all too well. But because Oshie came back to the game after Malkin’s blatant head hunt, the NHL decided it’s a-ok. And that’s the issue with the DoPS, they are still picking and choosing what is “dangerous” or not. They are saying player safety is based on results, not precaution. And that’s a huge deal. That’s been my point about the NHL’s handling of Tom Wilson all along. Willy has laid much, muchhhh bigger hits than this last one that got him 20 games. But in those instances, the player skated away. But it didn’t make the hit less violent. It’s kind of hard to completely understand, but the NHL is so results oriented it makes the game more dangerous because the players themselves don’t know what is or isn’t acceptable.
There will be a similar hit to the Malkin one later this year, and the player will get more banged up than Oshie did, and the player in Malkin’s position will get suspended. And everyone will look and be like “it was the exact same hit”. The NHL has no idea what they are doing.
I’m with Oshie here, it doesn’t necessarily matter what happens to Malkin as a result of the hit, because Oshie cleared protocol, came back, and made the Pens pay with the GWG.
But it’s such a bad look for the league when they let a head hunt go because the in-game punishment. Just because the refs did their jobs correctly, the hit to the head isn’t as bad? It’s such a bizarre reason.
It’s ok though. Tom Wilson waits.
