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Originally Posted by Erick Estrada
I know everyone likes to blame Wideman but I wonder if it's deeper than that. The Flames publicly disagreed with the suspension and were pretty outspoken throughout the process with comments made by both Treliving and Burke. It's possible the officials have taken that personally and the Flames in their mind have downplayed the severity of the incident.
Since the fiasco the Flames have gone from one of the least penalized team to the most penalized team despite very little in roster turnover (although Tkachuk has certainly added a fair bit but that's somewhat cancelled out by the fact he draws more penalties). I'm not wearing a tin foil hat and am not screaming that its a conspiracy but it certainly appears most nights the Flames are not getting the benefit of the doubt when it comes to penalty calls as Wednesday was garbage officiating and it seems we have seen more of that this season than years past.
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I think you make a good point. If there are lingering feelings, it will have much more to do with both Wideman and Flames brass reaction to the whole event, than what actually happened. They were quick to support their player but I had always assumed there was some behind the scenes sincere apologies from Wideman and the organization to the officials. Maybe not.
That said, there has also been a whole turnover in coaching staff and playing style. It would be foolish to think that doesn't have some impact on penalties.
In any case, Flames need to figure this out.