Tom Wilson breaks silence after latest suspension

Washington Capitals forward Tom Wilson is no stranger to facing discipline from the National Hockey League Department of Player Safety, as he's been suspended and fined multiple times throughout his career that has also included several controversial moments. 

Late last month, he found himself running afoul of the NHLDPS after a vicious high stick to the face of Toronto Maple Leafs forward Noah Gregor at Capital One Arena. For his actions, Wilson was offered an in-person hearing, meaning that he was facing another lengthy suspension. And that suspension was levied, as he was ordered to sit for the next six games. 

And now, Wilson is breaking his silence as his suspension draws to a close.

"It's tough. After the game, no one's really talking about it. It was kinda, honestly, it was a completely accidental play," Wilson recalled. "Coaches aren't talking about it, media's not talking about it, ref gave me a double minor and then overnight with slo-mo and all that next morning you wake up to a crazy amount of media."

Wilson admitted that while he did need to have better control of his stick, in no way was he attempting to injure Gregor.

"Obviously, I got to control my stick better, but I think he knew right away it was an accident; there was no intent behind the play," Wilson said. "Six games with a play that there's not intent behind, it's tough, but at the end of the day, it is what it is...you know when a guy's out there trying to do something versus an accident and i was genuine as I could be.

"I've never been a stick player; I've never swung my stick. Unfortunately, it was bad timing, and one I'd obviously like to have back and just moving forward," he added.

Wilson, who can return to action on Thursday against the Pittsburgh Penguins, also said that he didn't want to be a distraction to his team by going through the appeals process. 

"In fairness to myself, I felt like I needed to appeal, after looking at some comparables around the league that maybe got one game, maybe two games, I was like, 'I have a great case.' But when you appeal to a neutral, it's not always a hockey guy. it's not always a guy that understands that that may have been an accident," Wilson added. "So there's a lot that goes into it; I just chose to focus on this run. I'm not going to New York two weeks from now, doing a hearing, then going three to four weeks from now, doing another hearing and it's a huge distraction. I wanted to make sure my head was in this playoff race with this team and put it behind us."

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