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Originally Posted by RHSkinny
This is my first post on CP so I think I'd better introduce myself as a huge Flames fan because I sense a lot of people might disagree with what I am about to post and accuse me of being a troll.
I've watched the now infamous video of the incident many times as I am sure everyone has. What I see is after Wideman gets up from the hit and straightens up, he takes 4, count them 4 purposeful strides towards the bench in a direct line. That is to say, he doesn't weave back and forth but skates directly to the door of the bench knowing he needs to change. Also, I totally disagree with anyone that says that he took a little "stutter step" in an effort to avoid the linesman. I see that "stutter step" as him planting his outside leg in an effort to get a better hit in to the unsuspecting official, and hit him he does, ON PURPOSE !
I also have to say I agree 100% with Bettmans findings released today. There was no way that Gary could or should have allowed Wideman to play the "concussion card" as it would have set a dangerous precedent going forward for future disciplinary hearings.
The only thing I don't like about the suspension is the fact that with Wideman in the lineup the Flames are more likely to lose more games, so in that respect I wish he would return sooner as I don't see the Flames making it to the post season and the lower we drop in the standings the higher we pick in the 2016 entry draft.
I'm hoping I have seen Wideman's last game as a Flame but don't know if he will be very easily traded now given that any team that acquires him will only have around twenty games remaining in their regular season prior to playoffs.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Teroy
Been a Flames fan forever but there is no doubt in my mind that Wideman did it deliberately. Don't give me the bull about "watch his feet". Watch his arms; he definitely drives his arms and stick into the linesman. Quit defending someone who acted like a thug because he had a good record. He did it. He deserved the suspension and is lucky he didn't get more.
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I can't believe I'm doing this. This dead horse is pretty much an Ikea hot dog by this point. But even if you hate the Flames with every ounce of your being and Wideman kicked your dog once, I can't see how you can honestly look at this and say that he 100% targeted the ref and then cross checked him. Just my silly opinion of course, but its absurd.
As has been argued based on the Weber incident, players instinctively raise their arms to protect themselves. Widemans hands are together on his stick. Not really a true cross check.
Watch his feet. Yes, watch them. A plant to deliver a blow? Please. It looks like a stutter step to avoid something that kind of surprised him.
I think you can be woozy without being concussed, you can also have your head up and not really be paying attention to what is in front of you. Dizzy? Eyes closed? Ever smacked your nose on something? I can't see a damn thing after I do that.
Also, watch his head. It doesn't move from the point he gets up and skates towards the bench to the point he enters the bench. If he was targeting the ref, I would think his head would hone in like a targeting system.
Do I think he could kinda see the ref and probably saw him at one point? Yes. But I also think that he realized they were skating in opposite directions and probably didn't expect the ref to be there when he arrived, hence the surprise.
Is everything I've stated completely speculative? Yup. But its more probable than Dennis Wideman the vengeful targeting a guy that calls offsides and icings with a vicious crosscheck.
I do think he deserves some sort of punishment. That just can't happen. Its kind of like a high sticking penalty. 95% of the time you don't mean to do it, but you have to be responsible for your actions, so off you go. But 20 games and 600K for intent? That stinks.
I'm done.