2015-2016 NHL Thread

[hockeyfan1]

Here's a clear view of the Wideman-on-linesman hit:

https://vine.co/v/iilwrbO79ww

 

[hockeyfan1]

Kristen Odland  ‏@KristenOdlandCH
Dennis Wideman on hitting linesman Don Henderson: ?I was just trying to get off the ice. And, at the last second, I looked up and saw him."


Bruce Arthur  @bruce_arthur
That's a long skate before Wideman hit the linesman.

 

[Heroic Shrimp]

So this happened in the Calgary-Nashville game...

https://streamable.com/qpck

At first I wondered if he might have been concussed when he took the hit in the defensive zone.  Then I read that they didn't take him to the quiet room and he played the rest of the game.

1) How was he not ejected for that, it looked pretty damn intentional given that there was no concussion protocol employed
2) Is that 3, 5, or 10 games?

I can entirely see the hit on the linesman looking like it's intentional, but I really don't think it was.  Wideman was skating a little with his head down, and the linesman was backing into him.  He looked up a bit more at the last second, then got his hands/stick up on a hurry reflexively on recognizing the suddenly impending collision.  I think it was a spontaneous surprise reaction.

It didn't look like that at all.  Wideman was looking straight and on his way to the bench.  In no way did he not see the linesman backing up, and even if it was a last-minute recognition, why then did he practically cross-check him so hard? 

It looked purely intentional.

First of all, it's a bit of a stretch for me, you or anybody to identify exactly where Wideman was looking based on his head position as viewed from behind.  While he may not have been concussed, he was almost certainly mentally distracted after being hit, so it's more than conceivable that he wasn't paying full visual attention to his surroundings.  On looking at the play again and the context of what's going on, I think it's significant that as he's slowly going off, the play that looked to be going to the Nashville end is suddenly turning back hard, with Nashville carrying the puck, and close to his boards as well.  The more I look at it, I think he was distracted and kind of mentally oblivious as to who exactly was skating backwards towards him, then the play turned hard in his direction, and the moment he realized there was a quickly incoming play, he reacted and gave a shove to the nearest person not wearing a Flames jersey.  The fact that it was by the Nashville bench and he's surrounded by Nashville jerseys I think makes it somewhat or reasonably likely that, in a distracted moment when the play suddenly wakes him up, he subconsciously assumed the guy he shoved was a Nashville player.

I don't disagree that on superficial viewing, it looks like he deliberately took down a linesman.  It just doesn't make hockey sense to me that that's actually what happened.

 

[L K]

Yeah, I'm going to take a few steps back.  I still am not convinced that there wasn't some mild frustration/intent there but I don't think there is anything conclusive.  It still looks ugly regardless.

 

[cabber24]

Yeah, I'm going to take a few steps back.  I still am not convinced that there wasn't some mild frustration/intent there but I don't think there is anything conclusive.  It still looks ugly regardless.

I think he got his bell rung and was a little out of it when that happened. Sure looks bad though.

 

[hockeyfan1]

Watching TSN and Craig Button's explanation as he showed the film front-wise, there it looks as though Wideman put up his hands as if to avoid a collision.

In other words, intentional or accidental, depending on the angle it is viewed.

 

[WhatIfGodWasALeaf]

I think no matter what, it's disgraceful that they didn't put him through the concussion protocol. He took a hard hit to the head, you see him reach for his head and then he's so out of it that he runs over a ref.

I've heard of people being aggressive/disorientated by concussions, seems like it might be the case here.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

This is the link that shows that high/forward angle: http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/video/did-wideman-do-it-on-purpose~796476

It definitely looks more like incidental contact there to me, but come on how unaware do you have to be to not see that an official was in front of you for that long? I think the NHL will deem it accidental but I'd be shocked if he doesn't get suspended for this.

 

[GhostofPotvin29]

His reaction to me looked a lot like someone who was skating to the bench and not paying attention and who was not expecting the linesman to be there.  The way he made contact with him, when it was slowed down it looked like he straightened up as if he was surprised.

Plus it would just make zero sense to hit the linesman on purpose.

 

[hockeyfan1]

This is the link that shows that high/forward angle: http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/video/did-wideman-do-it-on-purpose~796476

It definitely looks more like incidental contact there to me, but come on how unaware do you have to be to not see that an official was in front of you for that long? I think the NHL will deem it accidental but I'd be shocked if he doesn't get suspended for this.

That's the point many have put to question as well.  God only knows what Dennis Wideman was thinking...if he even was or was simply too disoriented to make the connotation (that it was a referee/linesman in front of him and not a player in a Preds jersey)?

 

[ZBBM]

Here's a feast for all you advanced stats junkies:

http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/a-belated-birthday-tribute-to-wayne-gretzky-and-his-ridiculous-stats/

As you may know, 538.com is the gold standard for predictive analysis -- run by predictions guru Nate Silver. 

Note the good-sense things he says about the inherent limitations of all hockey stats (even the "advanced" ones are "lo-fi").  But still, tons to chew on.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

As you may know, 538.com is the gold standard for predictive analysis -- run by predictions guru Nate Silver.

Admittedly, I don't know much about 538/Silver, but that seems like pretty high praise for a guy who thought Sudbury-Thunder Bay would make a good NHL team/market.

 

[ZBBM]

As you may know, 538.com is the gold standard for predictive analysis -- run by predictions guru Nate Silver.

Admittedly, I don't know much about 538/Silver, but that seems like pretty high praise for a guy who thought Sudbury-Thunder Bay would make a good NHL team/market.

Not sure if you are referring to Enten or Silver.  Silver is the guy who absolutely nailed the last two US presidential and congressional elections, leaving all the other pollsters and pundits so far in the dust it wasn't even funny.  It was -- and I use the word advisedly -- phenomenal.  But all he does is rigorously apply deep statistical analysis.

 

[GhostofPotvin29]

I'm guessing this is the angle that CtB provided, but TSN's videos on their site always annoy me:

http://twitter.com/AdamVingan/status/692559523798765570

Definitely looks inadvertent to me.  You can see his skates sort of turn like his initial instinct was to avoid but he was too late.  He must have been a bit woozy.

 

[Kin]

Indefinite suspension for Wideman, will get a post ASG hearing.

http://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/nhl/dennis-wideman-suspension-1.3424298

 

[McGarnagle]

His reaction to me looked a lot like someone who was skating to the bench and not paying attention and who was not expecting the linesman to be there.  The way he made contact with him, when it was slowed down it looked like he straightened up as if he was surprised.

Plus it would just make zero sense to hit the linesman on purpose.

I tend to agree. What hurts him optically the most, imo, is how after the collision he steps off the ice with no regard for the linesman's health, which doesn't really fit the narrative of an accident.

I expect that he was seriously dazed from the collision at the end boards, and was barely with it enough to get off the ice. Which of course then raises the question as to why he wasn't directed to follow concussion protocols if his eggs were scrambled enough not to recognize the fact he just bulldozed the official.

 

[Heroic Shrimp]

I'm guessing this is the angle that CtB provided, but TSN's videos on their site always annoy me:

http://twitter.com/AdamVingan/status/692559523798765570

Definitely looks inadvertent to me.  You can see his skates sort of turn like his initial instinct was to avoid but he was too late.  He must have been a bit woozy.

Plus that angle shows how it's possible he was looking past the linesman at the play in the far corner and could have been relatively oblivious to the linesman coming toward him, especially if he was still shaken up and/or distracted.  And if you look at the original TV clip https://streamable.com/qpck , you can really clearly see the quick skate pivot before hitting the linesman, what I believe is a quick and ultimately failed attempt to change course.

Hitting a linesman from behind in this circumstance really just makes no hockey sense as a "pre-meditated" hit, as I cringed to hear Jeff Blair and Michael Traikos agree to describe it as today.

 

[cabber24]

If I were him I would claim my bell was rung and was a little out of it at the time... but if that is not his defense I think he should get suspended. Any other excuse is not good enough.

 

[Bullfrog]

He has to be careful claiming something like that. Claiming that simultaneously states that he and the team did not follow concussion protocol.

 

[hockeyfan1]

Eric Francis  @EricFrancis[/b]
A 10-game suspension for Wideman would cost him $640,000. A 20-gamer would be $1.28 million. That's steep.


Source:  (from the article) CBCSports