Well, even if Wideman was still in la-la land after the hit and didn't mean it, the league has to look at this incident very seriously. They take every measure to protect their refs. Wideman might have seriously injured the guy, woozy or not - he crosschecked the ref in the numbers. That incident easily had the potential to get the ref stretchered out of there.
If the league deems that there was no intent to injure, they still have to look at each other and ask, "Okay. Wideman was out of it and the ref was fine. Now what the heck happens the next time someone gets their bell rung and comes up swinging? What if the guy takes a swing at the ref and sends him to the hospital?"
The referees are people too, and with how fast, emotional, and tight a game of hockey can be, they deserve every safety measure they can get out there. Like an errant high stick, it might not be intentional but you still gotta keep it under control, and the 2 min minor (or double) reflects that.
__________________
Until the Flames make the Western Finals again, this signature shall remain frozen.
|