On Tuesday, May 4, the New York Rangers released a statement disagreeing with Tom Wilson’s punishment and calling for the head of the Department of Player Safety, George Parros, to be removed from his role.
The NHL was silent about the statement until Thursday, when they announced they have fined the Rangers $250,000.
New York Rangers Fined $250,000. https://t.co/W70Meln7Lr pic.twitter.com/R0MvLhGQVq
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) May 6, 2021
The statement reads:
The National Hockey League announced today that the New York Rangers have been fined $250,000 for their public comments on Tuesday, May 4.
“Public comments of the nature issued by the Rangers that were personal in nature and demeaning of a League executive will not be tolerated,” said NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman. “While we don’t expect our Clubs to agree with every decision rendered by the Department of Player Safety, the extent to which the Rangers expressed their disagreement was unacceptable. It is terribly unfair to question George Parros’ professionalism and dedication to his role and the Department of Player Safety.”
The original Rangers statement read:
The New York Rangers are extremely disappointed that Capitals forward Tom Wilson was not suspended for his horrifying act of violence last night at Madison Square Garden. Wilson is a repeat offender with a long history of these types of acts and we find it shocking that the NHL and their Department of Player Safety failed to take the appropriate action and suspend him indefinitely. Wilson’s dangerous and reckless actions caused an injury to Artemi Panarin that will prevent him from playing again this season. We view this as a dereliction of duty by the NHL head of Player Safety, George Parros, and believe he is unfit to continue in his current role.
The Rangers fired team President John Davidson and General Manager Jeff Gorton on Wednesday, but sources say that they were not involved with the issuing of that statement and it came from owner James Dolan’s office.
