New Jersey Devils: Tom Wilson Is Becoming The New Sean Avery

The New Jersey Devils finally beat their division rivals in the Washington Capitals. They beat the player that most fans hate most in the NHL; Tom Wilson. He’s quickly becoming public enemy number one.

The New Jersey Devils hold many rivals being right smack dab in the middle of the Northeast. Having the New York Rangers, New York Islanders and the Philadelphia Flyers within 100 miles makes for easily regional rivals. In fact, those rivalries run deep with Devils fans.

However, there may be one player that some fans hate even more than those teams.

Tom Wilson is one of the most hated players in the NHL. Way back in 2015, Matt Larkin with the Hockey News called him the NHL’s top villain. This was after searching out the Islanders Lubomir Visnovsky during their playoff series that year. Whether it was a dirty hit or not can be up for discussion, but either way it can’t be denied he was searching for a spark.

Last night, Wilson was at it again. I will be honest, I don’t consider his hit on Brian Gibbons all that dirty, but going after a guy half your size looking to crush him won’t sit well with the rest of the team.

Brian Boyle especially took offense. The 6’6 center wanted Wilson to face someone his own size. So, he skated over immediately after the hit and fought Wilson.

It was a pretty weak fight between the two. I’m sure even a man called a villain like Wilson wants to put his all behind punches on a guy fighting cancer. It would be a terrible look. Neither guy got good punches in, but it just shows how people around the league feel about Wilson.

This all feels very familiar to Devils fans. One Sean Avery was a player who just got under the skin of everyone in the league, especially the Devils. Avery would say terrible things about Martin Brodeur in the media under the guise he was “trying to get under his skin.” Honestly, most of it was just cause he was a jerk.

To his credit, Wilson isn’t one to talk bad to the media. Looking at his play on the ice, it’s all Avery-like.

He’s been an enemy to Devils fans for a long time. He delivered a huge hit from behind on John Moore that injured him last season. The call probably should have been boarding, but who knows how to call that penalty anyway.

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The most organic was Wilson is like Avery is the hate he has from every team in the league, but the love he gets from Caps fans. They love it when opposing fans get mad at his play on the ice. It’s a player that gets the team going when they are playing soft. I can’t take that away from him.

The biggest reason Wilson plays the Avery role perfectly is he takes the heat off his star players. Instead of someone going after Alex Ovechkin or Niklas Backstrom, they go after Wilson. He just does something to opposing players that make them want to punch him in the face.

The Devils already fought Wilson earlier in the season, after a hit on Andy Greene. Blake Coleman dropped the gloves against Wilson, and it didn’t really go well. That’s what makes him even more frustrating, he’s actually good at hockey fights.

The Devils and Capitals have two more games left this season. As long as Wilson is healthy, he will be the most hated player on the ice. He single-handedly makes the Devils and Capitals another fun rivalry in the Metropolitan Division.