{"id":477425,"date":"2026-02-15T23:53:20","date_gmt":"2026-02-15T23:53:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/477425\/"},"modified":"2026-02-15T23:53:20","modified_gmt":"2026-02-15T23:53:20","slug":"tom-wilson-fights-in-canadas-game-vs-france-at-the-olympics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/477425\/","title":{"rendered":"Tom Wilson fights in Canada’s game vs. France at the Olympics"},"content":{"rendered":"

MILAN (AP) \u2014 Who says there\u2019s no fighting in hockey at the Olympics<\/a>? Tom Wilson clearly does not care that it\u2019s shunned in international play. <\/p>\n

Wilson dropped the gloves late in Canada\u2019s 10-2 rout of France<\/a> on Sunday, going after the player who delivered a forearm to the head of teammate Nathan MacKinnon minutes earlier.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously fighting isn\u2019t a big thing in this tournament, but when a guy takes a run at one of our big guys, that\u2019s what Willy does,\u201d three-time Olympian Drew Doughty said. \u201cI mean, he does a lot more than that, but it was great to see him step up.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wilson fought Pierre Crinon, who was given a two-minute minor penalty and apologized to MacKinnon after the hit in the third period. Scoring 25 seconds into the ensuing power play was not good enough punishment in the eyes of Canada\u2019s players.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe didn\u2019t like the hit: felt like it was late and high,\u201d tournament leading scorer Connor McDavid said. \u201cWilly just finishes a check and the guy jumps him, and Willy\u2019s just protecting himself. That\u2019s all he can do. That\u2019s the type of guy he is, type of teammate he is. Nothing but respect for him.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"France's<\/p>\n

\n France’s Pierre Crinon (7) and Canada’s Tom Wilson (43) fight in the third period during a preliminary round game of men’s ice hockey between Canada and France at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 15, 2026. (AP Photo\/Hassan Ammar)\n <\/p>\n

France’s Pierre Crinon (7) and Canada’s Tom Wilson (43) fight in the third period during a preliminary round game of men’s ice hockey between Canada and France at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 15, 2026. (AP Photo\/Hassan Ammar)<\/p>\n

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\"France's<\/p>\n

\n France’s Pierre Crinon (7) fights with Canada’s Tom Wilson (43) during a preliminary round game of men’s ice hockey between Canada and France at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 15, 2026. (AP Photo\/Hassan Ammar)\n <\/p>\n

France’s Pierre Crinon (7) fights with Canada’s Tom Wilson (43) during a preliminary round game of men’s ice hockey between Canada and France at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 15, 2026. (AP Photo\/Hassan Ammar)<\/p>\n

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Unlike the NHL, where it is a 5-minute major penalty, fighting is a game misconduct under International Ice Hockey Federation rules, so Wilson and Crinon were ejected. The outcome was already long determined, and Wilson only missed the final seven minutes of the game.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re used to a lot more than that happening, so it was pretty harmless in the grand scheme of things,\u201d coach Jon Cooper said. \u201cSticking up for his teammates, that\u2019s an easy one for him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wilson also had a goal and an assist, along with the fight giving him what is known in hockey as a \u201cGordie Howe hat trick.\u201d <\/p>\n

The 31-year-old winger is one of just a few new players for Canada who did not play at the 4 Nations Face-Off a year ago, when there were three fights in the first nine seconds<\/a> of the team\u2019s first game against the U.S.<\/p>\n

Wilson\u2019s fight came exactly a year after those, when Canada\u2019s Brandon Hagel, Sam Bennett and Colton Parayko fought Americans Matthew Tkachuk, Brady Tkachuk and J.T. Miller.<\/p>\n

\u201cListen, I don\u2019t think we can go through this tournament without seeing one,\u201d Hagel said, smiling. \u201cIt was probably the talk about him coming to the tournament. But that\u2019s just what Willy does: He sticks up for teammates.\u201d <\/p>\n

MacKinnon, who was slow to get up and spent some time on the bench before returning, appreciated Wilson standing up for him.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"France's<\/p>\n

France\u2019s Pierre Crinon (7) and Canada\u2019s Tom Wilson (43) fight in the third period during a preliminary round game of men\u2019s ice hockey between Canada and France at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 15, 2026. (AP Photo\/Hassan Ammar)<\/p>\n

France\u2019s Pierre Crinon (7) and Canada\u2019s Tom Wilson (43) fight in the third period during a preliminary round game of men\u2019s ice hockey between Canada and France at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 15, 2026. (AP Photo\/Hassan Ammar)<\/p>\n

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\u201cThat guy obviously didn\u2019t want to fight Tom,\u201d MacKinnon said. \u201cHe just wanted to wrestle. I wouldn\u2019t want to fight Tom either.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wilson was a no-doubt pick for his physicality and ability to retrieve pucks, along with producing at a high level back in North America with the Washington Capitals. He is their leading scorer with 49 points in 50 games this season.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s likely to be the Capitals\u2019 captain when Alex Ovechkin retires, and Cooper called Wilson \u201coutstanding in the locker room.\u201d Fighting at the Olympics only gives Wilson, who did not speak to reporters afterward, more street cred with his teammates.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know Willy\u2019s got our backs,\u201d Bennett said. \u201cHe\u2019s going to protect all our guys and bring the energy. We love that from Willy. He\u2019s going to do anything for our team.\u201d<\/p>\n

Feisty goaltender Jordan Binnington<\/a>, who has been known to jab a player or two with his blocker when he\u2019s displeased, loved it, too.<\/p>\n

\u201cI definitely wasn\u2019t surprised,\u201d Binnington said. \u201cThat\u2019s hockey, right? That\u2019s hockey.\u201d<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

AP Winter Olympics: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MILAN (AP) \u2014 Who says there\u2019s no fighting in hockey at the Olympics? Tom Wilson clearly does not…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":477426,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[167256,13541,193563,12717,44233,49,48,155798,12428,20756,8930,48007,637,5239,13058,193561,122414,1451,8620,11906,48001,72244,72296,16061,189957,193562,28430,176726,82,41625,4137,754],"class_list":{"0":"post-477425","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-2026-milan-cortina-olympic-games","9":"tag-2026-winter-olympics","10":"tag-alexander-ovechkin","11":"tag-brady-tkachuk","12":"tag-brandon-hagel","13":"tag-ca","14":"tag-canada","15":"tag-colton-parayko","16":"tag-connor-mcdavid","17":"tag-dc-wire","18":"tag-district-of-columbia","19":"tag-drew-doughty","20":"tag-france","21":"tag-hockey","22":"tag-j-t-miller","23":"tag-jon-cooper","24":"tag-jordan-binnington","25":"tag-maryland","26":"tag-matthew-tkachuk","27":"tag-md-state-wire","28":"tag-nathan-mackinnon","29":"tag-national-hockey-league","30":"tag-nhl-hockey","31":"tag-olympic-games","32":"tag-olympic-hockey","33":"tag-pierre-crinon","34":"tag-sam-bennett","35":"tag-send-to-apple-news","36":"tag-sports","37":"tag-tom-wilson","38":"tag-virginia","39":"tag-washington-capitals"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/477425","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=477425"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/477425\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/477426"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=477425"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=477425"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=477425"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}