Rangers fined $250K for criticizing NHL over Tom Wilson punishment
The New York Rangers issued a statement on Tuesday bashing the NHL for not disciplining Washington Capitols enforcer Tom Wilson more harshly, and that decision has cost the organization a huge sum of money.
On Thursday, the NHL announced that the Rangers have been fined $250,000. Commissioner Gary Bettman said he does not expect teams to always agree with decisions from the Department of Player Safety but called it “unacceptable” that the Rangers issued a statement calling for head of player safety George Parros to lose his job.
Here is the full statement from the league:
New York Rangers Fined $250,000. https://t.co/W70Meln7Lr pic.twitter.com/R0MvLhGQVq
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) May 6, 2021
The Rangers were furious after Wilson, a notoriously dirty player, smashed Pavel Buchnevich in the head after the whistle blew during their game against Washington on Monday. Wilson then slammed Artemi Panarin to the ground during the ensuing scrum. You can see the video here.
New York announced that Panarin will miss the final three games of the season due to a lower body injury he suffered during the melee. Despite that and the fact that Wilson has been suspended by the NHL on five different occasions, Wilson only received a $5,000 fine and no suspension for the incident.
The Rangers were so angry with the league that they issued a public statement, which is unheard of for teams in those situations. Obviously, the league wanted to show that won’t be tolerated.
