Quote:
Originally Posted by DeluxeMoustache
Same video as posted earlier.
http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/g...ter-scary-hit/
Geez. The guy takes a pretty hard hit and gets his head smashed in the glass. He is skating hunched over and head down most of the way back. I don't think he was entering a state of Hulkamania.
By the time he gets closer to the bench, he is straightened up. You can't see his eyes, so you don't know if they are open, closed, blinking hard, looking at the play... No idea . What info do we have to gauge intent? His statement, his character, the video of his reaction.
He clearly moves his feet at the very last split second, in a sudden manner. That supports the idea that he was surprised. His arms come up at the last minute. Very reasonable to assume that it was a reaction to the sudden realization that he was going to run in to someone.
On the bench he looked to me like a guy shaking the cobwebs, not like some sociopath.
If you watch carefully, the way he tapped his stick on the ice when he straightened up was kind of like a blind person with one of their walking sticks. When his vision was restored, he immediately tried to swerve by pivoting his feet and brought his arms up.
Ok. That last bit may be ridiculous but it is no more ridiculous than saying he was upset about a hard hit and took it out on the stripes.
Can I speak for him at his hearing? |
I agree with this. In fact, on the bench it looks like another player is telling him what happened like he didn't even realize it.
I hate playing this card and have been biting my tongue until now, but I think a lot of the people aren't familiar enough with contact sports to realize that when you are hurt and need to remove yourself, your mind is often on one track. To me, it looks like Wideman was looking past the linesman and was just focused on getting to the door, then at the last second, he was like; "Oh crap, a person in front of me!", and made a reflex action. Absolutely no intent IMO.
However, that doesn't mean that I don't think the accident wasn't his fault. The proper thing to do, and I realize it is hard to convince a professional hockey player to do it, but he should have stayed down after the hit.