Wideman suspended 20 games for hitting linesman

[GhostofPotvin29]

https://twitter.com/TSNBobMcKenzie/status/694954986564882432

 

[dappleganger]

Huge overreaction.

 

[Kin]

Yeah, this seems more or less right. There's no way for it to be less and not have to answer tough questions about why he wasn't taken out of the game.

 

[dappleganger]

Yeah, this seems more or less right. There's no way for it to be less and not have to answer tough questions about why he wasn't taken out of the game.

I thought 10 games max. So this doubles what I was thinking.

I wouldn't have been surprised with a couple games.

Can't wait to hear what Wideman says, and other players.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

These were the two rules noteworthy to Wideman's case:

40.2 Automatic Suspension ? Category I - Any player who deliberately strikes an official and causes injury or who deliberately applies physical force in any manner against an official with intent to injure, or who in any manner attempts to injure an official shall be automatically suspended for not less than twenty (20) games. (For the purpose of the rule, ?intent to injure? shall mean any physical force which a player knew or should have known could reasonably be expected to cause injury.)

40.3 Automatic Suspension ? Category II - Any player who deliberately applies physical force to an official in any manner (excluding actions as set out in Category I), which physical force is applied without intent to injure, or who spits on an official, shall be automatically suspended for not less than ten (10) games.

So by giving him 20 games the NHL is saying that Wideman deliberately hit the official and intended to injure him. Yeah, I dunno. I'm guessing the Flames appeal this and they bring it down to 15 maybe.

 

[Kin]

I thought 10 games max. So this doubles what I was thinking.

I wouldn't have been surprised with a couple games.

Can't wait to hear what Wideman says, and other players.

I just don't see how they could sell that. It wasn't accidental contact. So either:

A) He, whether through malice or carelessness, really hit an official or

B) He was concussed and didn't really know what he was doing

Like I said, if you try to convince people of B you have to answer why he wasn't removed from the game.

 

[Kin]

So by giving him 20 games the NHL is saying that Wideman deliberately hit the official and intended to injure him.

Not necessarily. Those are minimums. Do you really think that if the NHL believed a player deliberately tried to injure an official they'd only suspend him for 20 games?

 

[cabber24]

Should of gone to the quiet room after the incident. Could of sold the whole "out of it" card better. The fact that he didn't says, according to himself and team staff that he was fine and clear headed. Thus guilty.

 

[crazyperfectdevil]

Should of gone to the quiet room after the incident. Could of sold the whole "out of it" card better. The fact that he didn't says, according to himself and team staff that he was fine and clear headed. Thus guilty.

the problem being it shouldn't be up to the team or the player.  they have an interest in the outcome of the game.  should come from the league.  you can argue some bias there but then that would also call video review into play. 

 

[cabber24]

Should of gone to the quiet room after the incident. Could of sold the whole "out of it" card better. The fact that he didn't says, according to himself and team staff that he was fine and clear headed. Thus guilty.

the problem being it shouldn't be up to the team or the player.  they have an interest in the outcome of the game.  should come from the league.  you can argue some bias there but then that would also call video review into play.

The quiet room protocol should come from the league. I wonder what position Wideman presented in his hearing with the NHL? I thought Burke was a lawyer, lost this one pretty bad.

 

[bustaheims]

The quiet room protocol should come from the league. I wonder what position Wideman presented in his hearing with the NHL? I thought Burke was a lawyer, lost this one pretty bad.

The protocol does come from the league, but there's still human error and nuances involved. Obviously, you aren't going to take players to the quiet room every time they get knocked over. It's hard to create a black and white situation here, where it's clear when a player has to go and when they don't. In this specific case, Wideman most likely shoudl have gone, but in terms of hard and fast standards? Much more complex.

 

[cabber24]

The quiet room protocol should come from the league. I wonder what position Wideman presented in his hearing with the NHL? I thought Burke was a lawyer, lost this one pretty bad.

The protocol does come from the league, but there's still human error and nuances involved. Obviously, you aren't going to take players to the quiet room every time they get knocked over. It's hard to create a black and white situation here, where it's clear when a player has to go and when they don't. In this specific case, Wideman most likely shoudl have gone, but in terms of hard and fast standards? Much more complex.

I meant that a league official should decide who goes to the quiet room and who doesn't, not the team.

 

[dappleganger]

I thought 10 games max. So this doubles what I was thinking.

I wouldn't have been surprised with a couple games.

Can't wait to hear what Wideman says, and other players.

I just don't see how they could sell that. It wasn't accidental contact. So either:

A) He, whether through malice or carelessness, really hit an official or

B) He was concussed and didn't really know what he was doing

Like I said, if you try to convince people of B you have to answer why he wasn't removed from the game.

I apologize Nik, I haven't been following this story too closely. I've seen the hit a few times and listened to the Fan590 on whether it was intentional or not. Did Wideman or someone come out and say it wasn't accidental? All I heard was that Wideman apologized and it looked accidental to me, I know, my opinion.

I think Wideman was concussed and the league does need to explain why the concussion protocol wasn't followed.

Sucks for Wideman because if the protocol was followed it would have helped his defense.
 

 

[CarltonTheBear]

Tweets from TSN's Rick Westhead:

The NHL's heralded concussion protocol in the Dennis Wideman case wasn't followed. The concussion spotter called down to Calgary bench.

Source: According to NHL protocol, Wideman should then have been taken to quiet, distraction-free place & examined by doctor. He wasn?t.

After the game, Wideman was diagnosed with a concussion by the Flames team doctor: source

NHL will now decide whether to fine Flames if it determines concussion protocol not followed. (Separate issue from Wideman's sanction.)

 

[Tigger]

This'll probably back fire on the league but I really think Wideman was out of it, and while he did rub out an official, he probably shouldn't lose a half million bucks over it.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

Here's the NHL's video on the suspension: https://www.nhl.com/news/dennis-wideman-suspended/c-278258934

So they do cite 40.2, saying that Wideman deliberately and with intent to injure striked the ref. Meaning he was suspended for a minimum amount of games per the rulebook.

Interesting that they show the replay of the hit from behind like half a dozen times, but never the replay from the forward angle which makes it look much more accidental.

 

[WhatIfGodWasALeaf]

This'll probably back fire on the league but I really think Wideman was out of it, and while he did rub out an official, he probably shouldn't lose a half million bucks over it.

Yeah, basically if the NHLPA don't throw a fit here, they should be disbanded.

 

[Kin]

I apologize Nik, I haven't been following this story too closely. I've seen the hit a few times and listened to the Fan590 on whether it was intentional or not. Did Wideman or someone come out and say it wasn't accidental? All I heard was that Wideman apologized and it looked accidental to me, I know, my opinion.

What I mean when I say it wasn't accidental is that it's not like Wideman was skating backwards and hit someone he couldn't see or was trying to hit someone else and the linesman got in the way. Wideman clearly reacted to a person in front of him. The issue is whether or not he intended to actually hit the linesman or if you buy Wideman's apparent defense that he was simply trying to get out of the way.

 

[Bullfrog]

It seems to me like he intentionally meant to hit the linesman. But I have doubts he realized it was a linesman. By intentional, I mean he realized at the last second someone was in front of him and he reacted. I doubt he planned it.

 

[Kin]

It seems to me like he intentionally meant to hit the linesman. But I have doubts he realized it was a linesman. By intentional, I mean he realized at the last second someone was in front of him and he reacted. I doubt he planned it.

That's what I was trying to say. Not that it was premeditated, just that it does look to have been an intentional action.