Quote:
Originally Posted by Oling_Roachinen
Actually they conceded that Wideman was concussed seemingly easily.
One potential reasons would be that they could say the spotter identified he was potentially concussed essentially validating their spotter plan. Then they can go ahead and argue that it was Wideman saying he was fine (and the Flames for not forcing him off the ice) that messed up the system deflecting blame.
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The argument is one of competence. The NHL is arguing that, despite being concussed, Wideman was competent enough to both know what he was doing when he hit Hinderson, and to tell the team trainer he was fine enough to continue. i.e.: He knew what he was risking, and he chose to take that risk anyway. Therefore, Wideman was completely responsible for his own decisions and his own actions.
The NHLPA, of course, is arguing that his medical state basically made him too incompetent to make those decisions, and therefore he is not responsible for his actions against Henderson. But the extension of that argument as it relates to the concussion lawsuit is that the league then failed to properly remove Wideman from the game and treat his injury. That cuts right to the heart of the lawsuits.