Capitals Raise Stanley Cup Banner, Blast the Bruins, and Miss Tom Wilson

Just before a celebration that was 44 years in the making, the Washington Capitals learned first-line winger and edgy physical presence Tom Wilson wouldn't be there.

They soon discovered that the Boston Bruins didn't show up, either.

The current Stanley Cup champions thoroughly annilhilated the B's, 7-0, to headline the NHL's opening night.

 

This was obviously one of those few times when the highlight of the night occurred before the game even started.

No guesses for who entered with the Cup. If tradition didn't confirm otherwise, it was almost like Alex Ovechkin hadn't let go of it from last May onward.

 

And then, the rout was on.

It was a genuine stat-padder from the first minute onward. Literally:

 

Wilson got done for 20 games after a vicious drive-by headshot on St Louis Blues center Oscar Sundqvist in the Caps final exhibition game of the fall:

 

 

Wilson's gonna appeal, of course, but in this CTE-aware era and with dude's being on a first-name basis with the NHL's disciplinary committee by now, he had to know they were gonna send a harsh message this time.

One point's been made, though.

If someone's gonna step up to fill Wilson's skates in a certain respect, it's not Lars Eller.

 

With the advent of Peter Forsberg, Mats Sundin, Tomas Holmström, and Patric Hörnqvist, no one stereotypes Swedes as soft anymore.

Eller's by no means soft, but dude's got a few things to learn about being hard.