Tom Wilson suspended seven games for his very clean and not at all dirty hockey play on Brandon Carlo

In a tough break for all of the Very Important Hockey Men who insisted that Tom Wilson’s hit on Brandon Carlo was clean, the league announced tonight that the Capitals forward has been suspended for seven games for his latest transgression.

The league’s press release said that the suspension was for boarding, which is wild, because there was no boarding penalty called on the play.

Hopefully the refs from last night’s game get a refresher course on how to call penalties.

The league released one of its slickly produced explanation videos to go along with the suspension, stating:

• Wilson delivered a high, hard hit that makes direct contact with Carlo’s head.
• “This is boarding,” which is a hilarious indictment of last night’s officials.

Interestingly, the league also said that they agreed with the Capitals’ assertion that Wilson could have made a legal hit in that situation.

However, according to the league:

“What separates this hit from others is the direct and significant contact to a defenseless player’s face and head, causing a violent impact with the glass.”

Additionally:

“This is a player with a substantial disciplinary record taking advantage of an opponent who is in a defenseless position and doing so with significant force.”

Later, Tom!