Quote:
Originally Posted by Strange Brew
Bingo I think your assessment of the situation is pretty much right on, other than the one part I bolded. If the NHL truly thought that way, I believe the punishment would have been (and should have been) more severe. Half a season maybe. So I can live with the 20 games for an instantaneous emotional reaction. The officials are off limits, period.
Also, Wideman is a suck?
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There is a strange disconnect though. The NHL has to be treating it as intentional, and I believe Bettman's statement yesterday confirms that, because otherwise this whole "officials are off limits" thing would mean nothing. I say that because accidental contact is clearly ok with the NHL. The league has never suspended players for accidental plays, even punches. To the face!
I'm actually a bit surprised at how many media personalities keep on getting this so, so wrong (looking at you Duha). They go on and on and on about how officials are off limits and this has no place in the game and on the other hand totally ignore the fact that if a player ever did clearly and intentionally skate over to a ref and crosscheck him in the back they would get far more than 20 games. Look at previous suspensions. Guys have gotten 10 games just for the slightest shove.
If the league actually believes it was intentional, which I think is crazy, then they totally screwed this up because he should have received half a season. The idea that the league is saying that you can attack a referee and only get 20 games is mind blowing.