Tom Wilson isn’t playing tonight against the Blues

Tom Wilson has a bit of a... let’s just use the word “reputation.” He’s a skilled hockey player and vital member of the Washington Capitals who tends to remove himself from play for long stretches of games thanks to questionable hits.

A team that he seems to questionably hit a lot are the Blues, specifically the preseason Blues.

You may remember when he was suspended for two games during the 2017 season for this hit on Robert Thomas:

Then you might remember this one to close out the 2017 preseason. This hit to Blais got Wilson four games to start the new season.

Last preseson, Wilson absolutely steamrolled Oskar Sundqvist.

It was originally a 20 game suspension, but on appeal Wilson was suspended for 14 games.

All of these are perfectly avoidable hits for any normal individual who possesses something called “impulse control” or “situational awareness” or a vague sense of “oh shit I’m putting my team in a bad position again so maybe I shouldn’t hit high,” but Tom Wilson is not a man possessed of those things.

He, instead, has decided to avoid the impulse to plow over a member of the Blues entirely. He’s just not playing.

He played in the Caps’ preseason victory against the Blackhawks, setting up scoring the game winner. He won’t be in tonight. ‘

I guess if you just can’t help yourself by exercising the same level of control that everyone in the NHL can manage to exercise on a nightly basis, it’s just best if you remove yourself from the temptation entirely.