The second: What about it, exactly, was more violative of the rules than a standard board? Schenn's last-second turn didn't do him any favors, and Wilson didn't target or hit his head. The result was a disaster, and the collision was horrifying, but it wasn't the standard suspendable headshot or shove into the boards.

And then, at some point, it became apparent that Wilson might as well have started his run at Schenn in the Verizon Center. The game was not at Verizon Center.

So, the NHL's job over the next little bit is to determine whether Wilson's mega-ultimate charge into the future is enough to earn a suspension. The hit was not OK,  no matter what Alex Ovechkin  and Adam Oates say.

"Phone hearing for Tom Wilson on the Schenn hit. Injury news, or lack thereof, plays a part in that I imagine." — Greg Wyshynski (@wyshynski)

Schenn, somehow, was OK on Wednesday: No concussion symptoms, and no hard feelings for Wilson.

“It’s a fast game and things happen fast out there,”  Schenn said  . “He got a little piece of my shoulder-back area. It’s fast out there. People don’t realize how fast the game happens. And it’s a quick play.”

"I feel I got really lucky,” Schenn said. “I don’t think I have ever gone head-first into the boards without even getting my arms up or anything like that. I don’t remember much of the play. All I remember was how hard the top of my head actually hit the board. And I don’t remember trying to get up or anything bad. But the good thing is I don’t have a headache or any symptoms today, so that’s a positive sign.”


STEEN SIGNS FAIR DEAL


The moral of the story for Alex Steen: if you score, you'll get paid.

Steen, whose 22 goals in 33 games for the St. Louis Blues is two off his career high, signed a three-year, $17.4 million extension with the team, according to multiple reports.

At first blush, it seems like a lot of money for a 29-year-old player in the midst of a career year, and that may well be the case. Now, if Steen settles back into the 20-goal scorer he's been heretofore in his career, paying him a $5.8 million cap hit won't be ideal, but he's a solid possession player and good defensively.

It's also important to remember that the salary cap will jump about $8 million next season (to about $71 million), and projects to rise even farther. That fact, combined with the relatively short term, makes the deal a relatively fair one.

Steen, who wound up in St. Louis as half of the trade that netted the Toronto Maple Leafs Lee Stempniak, is 29 years old and would've become a free agent after the season. He could've gotten more, especially if he kept up something approaching his current pace, but that's not all that important — free agency is a sucker's bet most of the time, anyway.

The Blues are 22-7-4 with 48 points. They've now got Steen, winger T.J. Oshie and, most importantly, defensemaen Alex Pietrangelo, Kevin Shattenkirk and Jay Bouwmeester signed for at least the next three seasons. Captain David Backes has two years left on his current deal.


LUCIC + VANCOUVER


Milan Lucic probably didn't need to apologize, but he did anyway.

The Boston Bruins winger issued a statement walking back some of what he said earlier this week about Vancouver; Lucic is from there, and for a variety of reasons, has dealt with some public ugliness over the last few years.

The latest incident: what Lucic called "an attack" outside a restaurant in downtown Vancouver after Saturday's Bruins-Canucks game. The incident was caught on camera. Lucic was really, really angry and said the f-word a few times, but that was the extent of it.

The day after the video broke, Lucic said he was "done trying to defend city I'm from."

By Wednesday: not quite. Here's his statement in its entirety.

"This has been a very difficult week for me given the recent events that took place in my hometown of Vancouver. As I have had more time to think I want to make it clear that regardless of what has happened, I am still - and always will be - proud to be from there. It is home. While the actions of a few individuals have deeply upset me and will impact the time I spend downtown going forward, I will not let those incidents diminish the love and pride I have for the city as a whole. This will be my final comment on this subject."

It's a crappy situation on all ends, and Lucic could probably avoid certain aspects of it, but it's good to see that he hasn't actually written off the city entirely. Hopefully, things get better.

Contributor: Sean Gentille