Once again I find my self questioning the NHL. On the one hand they constantly say how much they want a safer game. How much they want to clean up the sport for the TV audience. On the other hand guys like Tom Wilson are allowed to bully and wreak havoc on the league with absolutely no repercussion. Last night he was up to the same old bull shit that he always is. During a scrum after the whistle he has Pavel Buchnevich down on the ice and just proceeds to throw a punch thinking no one is looking. Well it caught the eye of Artemi Panarin. He jumped right onto Wilson to defend his teammate. Now Wilson the more rugged player easily gets out of that and instead of skating away and it ending he decides to further his candidacy for douche bag of the year but dragging Panarin down by his hair. Who pulls hair? With all that hes now in the box and hes flexing on the caps bench like he just won some great fight. After the game Everyone around the league was talking about how many games he would get. Would it be 2? 5? Rest of this season? Nope. The brain trust of the NHL decide that his on going antics and his reputation as one of the dirtiest players of this generation only merits a 5 thousand dollar fine. Are you kidding me? The best part is George Parros is the head of the NHLs development and player safety. George Parros! The man was one of the most feared enforcers in the league. He never got suspended. Not once in his career. You would think that a guy who knows the difference between being a tough player and being a complete dick would easily see Tom Wilson as a cancer in the league and act accordingly. I guess what is gonna have to happen is Wilson is going to have to go after one of the faces of the league before anything will happen to him. That is a bad precedent to set.
In other news, The Bruins have clinched their spot in the playoffs. Currently they sit 4th in their division but with a couple games left and if they get a little luck they could easily slip into second place. They have been playing very well as of late. The addition of Taylor Hall, Curtis Lazar and Mike Reilly has been probably the best thing Don Sweeney has done as GM of the team. Hopefully they resign Hall next year.
Teams around the league have some decisions to make with the upcoming expansion draft. When Vegas had theirs teams did not protect certain players whos contracts were expiring or the cap hit was too high. They got a steal with Marc-Andre Fleury and have since built around him to become a decent contender every year. Now can Seattle do the same? Its possible. Lots of top notch players should be on the unprotected list this time around. For the Bruins i think the most notable will be Tuukka Rask. With the emergence of Jeremey Swayman who has proved he is more then NHL ready, i think now is the time to move on from Rask. Only time will tell.
The NFL draft also took place this past week and i only wanna talk about the Pats first round pick. QB Mac Jones. Now the reports on him are amazing. Couple national titles at BAMA. Great pocket presence. Good arm strength. He checks all the right boxes. But if you have watched any combination of College and Pro football over the last say 10 years you will already know that while Alabama is a very dominant and successful program. Their QBs don't tend to pan out in the NFL. Other positions sure. Dont'a Hightower is arguably one of the best linebackers we have had since Bruschi and Mayo. But in terms of the most important position on the field, Bama is not exactly turning out the Joe Burrows or the Trevor Lawrence's of the world.
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