Quote:
Originally Posted by GioforPM
Thinking about this, I think if the league is intellectually honest they either have to:
a. Accept his version that it was a complete accident and give him nothing. There can be no punishment for accidentally wiping out an official. It's just not against the rules.
or
b. Not accept his version, rule that it was intentional, and give him a big suspension, because you just can't intentionally wipe out an official.
If they give him a small suspension, I think it's a cop out, either way. It will be either "we believe you but we have to appease the public and the officials" or "we don't believe you, but we can't prove it and don't want an appeal to an independent arbitrator".
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Option C: Believe him that it was unintentional, but still suspend him because he was in a situation that he could have done more to prevent the collision.
There is unavoidable accidents that get ignored, but this one was completely avoidable whether he was dazed or not.
Just like a high sticking penalty where the player will get called every time because he should be in control of his stick at all times, Wideman will get suspended because he should have been in control of his actions. He had plenty of time to get out of the way.