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Wilson, who has been suspended five times for
violent acts, tossed Panarin like a rag doll during Monday's
game at Madison Square Garden, prematurely ending the NHL most
valuable player candidate's season.
He received a slim $5,000 fine for the incident and was not
suspended, angering fans, players and the Rangers front office,
who saw the punishment as woefully inadequate.
"I'm glad Panarin is doing well and you know he's better - I
reached out to him and that's really what matters now," Wilson
told reporters on Friday ahead of the Capitals' home game
against the Philadelphia Flyers. "He's a player that's great for
the game."
Wilson declined to elaborate on the nature of the text message
exchange but did attempt to justify his actions on Monday.
"After the play I would have never thought that all this would
have blown up - it seemed fairly routine hockey scrum to me,"
said Wilson. "That was kind of the feeling from both players in
the box. And then obviously it took on a new life after the
game."
The Capitals and the Rangers faced off again on Wednesday,
immediately throwing down their gloves and throwing punches as
the puck dropped.
On Thursday, the league fined the Rangers $250,000 for demeaning
a public executive, after they called for the removal of George
Parros, the NHL head of player safety in charge of handing out
punishments.
"Nothing I say right now is going to change anybody's opinion -
they've already made that up and I've just got to keep moving
forward," said Wilson.
(Reporting by Amy Tennery; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)
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