National Post (National Edition)
WILSON GIVES CAPS ‘SCARY’ EDGE
BRUISING FORWARD KNOWS HIS ROLE FOR STANLEY CUP CHAMPIONS
White boxing-style tape was wrapped tightly around Tom Wilson’s wrists as he picked at the reddish scabs that had formed on the knuckles of his right hand. They looked somewhat fresh, but Wilson insisted they had been there for a while. At least two or three weeks, he said. Maybe even since the start of the season.
“They never heal,” said the Washington Capitals forward.
They never heal because Wilson doesn’t allow them to. Heading into Thursday night’s game against the Toronto Maple Leafs, Wilson had fought five times this season — second most in the league — with the latest one coming on Feb. 7 when he pummelled Colorado’s Ian Cole following a blindside hit on teammate Evgeny Kuznetsov.
According to hockeyfights. com, he had lost just once.
Maybe that’s why Leafs head coach Mike Babcock called the 6-foot-4 and 218-pound Wilson “scary.” And maybe that’s why so many teams had now placed “toughness” at the top of their wish list heading into next Monday’s trade deadline.
Whether i t ’s Philadelphia’s Wayne Simmonds, Carolina’s Micheal Ferland or Kevin Hayes of the New York Rangers, everyone is on the lookout for a version of Wilson: a top-six forward who can score, hit and drop the gloves. After all, it led to a Stanley Cup for the Capitals.
“Obviously, you’re the measuring stick from last year,” said Wilson. “Teams look at a team that won the year prior and try to look at why they had success and stuff. I don’t look too much into that. Obviously, the game is trending away from the physicality it has been in the past, but that being said, come playoff time it’s hardnosed hockey.
“It’s right back to the hockey that we love, so it helps to have a team that’s well-balanced and can play a variety of different games.”
The way that the Capitals play is unique. They’re skilled, but they’re also scary. Alex Ovechkin, who leads the league with 42 goals, is not just a sniper. He’s also a 235-pound wrecking ball who last year changed the momentum of the conference final with some of his hits.
Wilson, who plays on the top line with Ovechkin and Evgeny Kuznetsov, is the opposite. First and foremost, he’s a physical presence. But with 15 goals this season, he can finish scoring plays just as easily as he can bodychecks.
“He’s a good player. He’s a first-rounder,” Kuznetsov said of Wilson, a 16th-overall pick in 2012 who spent the first four years of his career typecast as a bottom six grinder before breaking out with 14 goals and 35 points last season.
“No one told him to make passes, to make plays,” said Kuznetsov. “But after a couple of months of play- ing (on the top line), he started to make the passes and everything. And then everyone started talking, ‘Oh, he’s skilled.’ But he’s always (been) skilled. It’s just about what the coach is asking of you. If he’s asking you to dump the puck all the time, then people aren’t going to see that you have that in your arsenal.”
Toronto’s Zach Hyman has fought twice this season and won both, but the 6-foot-1 and 209-pound winger will never be confused with Wilson. And yet, the role he fulfills on a line with Mitch Marner and John Tavares is pretty much the same as the one Wilson plays in Washington — minus the intimidation factor.
“I don’t think there’s one guy in the league that gets the puck back more than him,” Babcock said of Hyman. “Now, does he scare you like Tom Wilson? I don’t think so. But he comes to get you. He gets the puck.”
For the Leafs, that might be enough.
Hyman, who has delivered a team-leading 83 hits among forwards, is physical. But he’s also sacrificial, ranking ninth among NHL forwards in hits received. That’s fine. He’ll gladly be the first on the forecheck and take one for the team if it means Marner and Tavares are able to get the puck and get goals, while remaining healthy.
“Listen, I know what my role is on the line,” said Hyman, who has 11 goals in 49 games this season. “Just going into the corners and getting the puck, I’d rather get hit than have those other guys get hit. Get them the puck when they have space, so they can do creative things.”
Not every team uses the same forward scheme as Toronto or Washington. In places such as Boston, Calgary, Colorado and Winnipeg, the top line features nothing but all-star level talent. That, on its own, can be scarier than having Wilson breathing down your neck on the forecheck. But it can also be problematic, given that there’s only one puck to go around.
“You can’t have all three guys unbelievable scorers, right?” said Kuznetsov. “Someone has to go get the puck.”
“Pavel (Datsyuk) used to tell me that he didn’t want two other guys on the line that wanted the puck,” said Babcock. “He just wanted someone to get him the puck. He wanted the puck all the time. So that’s what those guys (Hyman and Wilson) do. They get it for you and then go to the net … and there’s one less person close to you. Good players don’t want players close to them. They want space. That’s why that works.”
EVERYONE STARTED TALKING, ‘OH, HE’S SKILLED.’ BUT HE’S ALWAYS (BEEN) SKILLED.