Wilson vows to adapt his game following recent suspension

Tom Wilson of the Washington Capitals is promising he will adjust his game after being suspended recently for seven matches after a boarding call on Boston Brandon Carlo.

"I'm going to continue to adjust and I think the game is always adapting year to year," Wilson said Friday in his first comments since the suspension. "At the end of the day, it can't happen. I can't be missing seven games. I can't be missing one game. I've got to be in the lineup."

"It had been almost 200 games and over 600 hits since the last time I talked to [the Department of Player Safety]," Wilson said.

This latest suspension was Wilson's first since 2018 when he initially received 20 games for a high-hit to the head of Oskar Sundqvist. That sentence was later reduced to 14 games after Wilson appealed. He says he reached out to Carlo via text the next day to see if he was ok.

"A lot of people probably wouldn't believe, but you never want to see a fellow peer get injured," Wilson said. "They're hockey players just like I am and this is their living and their livelihood and when a guy goes down it's not a good feeling. So I texted him the next day and was happy to hear that he was feeling better."

In it's ruling, the Department of Player Safety indicated most players would be given the benefit of the doubt on the play and likely wouldn't have received a suspension. However, Wilson's reputation eliminated that doubt. Wilson was asked if there was a double standard when it came to his sentences.

"That's a tough question and it's probably one you have to ask them," Wilson said. "I can believe a lot of different things. I can analyze the situation just like all of you have and just like everybody in Toronto and everyone across the National Hockey League. Everyone can build their own opinion. I'm not going to tell you my opinion. I can keep that to myself, keep that in the locker room."

The Bruins have stated that Carlo will be "out for a while" following the hit, which happened on March 5th.

Source: NBC Sports

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