I get that the optics of the play look bad but the amount of people that truly believe he intended to do this blows my mind.
The guy has ZERO history in the NHL.
Why would he hit a linesman over a missed call? Wouldn't he hit the referee? And not to mention who on earth thinks "I'm angry, and there's the linesman who didn't do anything wrong, so I'm going to hit him!"?
He apologized on the ice before anyone even thought this was a story at all and without anyone forcing him to do it.
Why does everyone ignore his feet? He tries to stop at the last minute.
He has two hands on his stick BEFORE contact with the official, and they're too close together to be called a crosscheck but for whatever reason it is. I believe he raised his arms out of instinct. I've done it plenty of times on the ice. The combination of that and Henderson skating backwards causes him to be caught off guard and fall. It doesn't take a lot of force to push over an unsuspecting person. It looks a lot worse than it actually was.
How come no one calling the game or during intermission talked about it at all?
It's absolute hacks like Eric Francis who pick up stories like this and twist it into something it isn't to get attention. Then it blows up on social media when people who see the clip completely out of context (and only ONE angle of it) start complaining and becomes a PR disaster for the NHL.
Yes Wideman should have been more aware, but incidental contact is an occupational hazard that all officials are well aware of, and some onus has to be on Henderson for not being aware as well. I reffed hockey for years and used to get bumped into all the time.
Personally I believe 5 games would be fine because yes, Wideman should have been more aware and the league needs to protect their officials and do some damage control, but the people that think 20 games is the right amount are completely out to lunch in my opinion.
I feel bad for Wideman. I'm 100% positive (because to me, it just doesn't make sense) he didn't mean to do it but because the story blew up way more than it should have he's handed one of the longest suspensions in league history. It's a joke. The lack of common sense used by some people is astounding. I'll defend Dennis Wideman to the death on this one.
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