Wideman Decision Expected Wednesday

[dino7c]

Originally Posted by FeyWest

Yeah I'm not really sure where this sentiment came frome, I've read from a couple posters (Not just here) that he's "Pissy" but it just seems like a false statement.

all evidence would say he is a very calm hockey player...30 some PIMS for a d-man isn't very high

[united]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

Not necessarily the initial hit, but the case can certainly be made for the cross check that followed. There is a lot more room for doubt in this instance than in any of the others, which is why the League is taking it so seriously, and rightly so.

Both Wideman's and Weber's arms are tucked at impact. Both forcefully extend after impact. Wideman's is obviously worse because it was a crosscheck, but what confuses me, and why I posted the video originally, is why there was nothing raised about Weber's when he clearly applies a forceful shove after impact and before they've hit the ice. Also, Weber, like Wideman, and any professional athlete, shows no immediate remorse because he is playing to the whistle.

[Samonadreau]

^ Not that it has any bearing on this event but he is 2nd in pim's this year on the team.

Hes having a rough year and he made a bad choice. Had it been a Pred that he hit nobody would be talking about it right now. But it was a linesman, which he probably wasnt totally aware of and hes gonna pay the price for it. I feel for him. Weve all made bad choices. This one he will regret.

[getbak]

Maybe it's because I'm a klutz who doesn't always pay attention to my surroundings, but I still don't have a problem accepting his explanation that it was an accident.

YouTube is full of videos of people getting surprised or scared, and one of the most common reactions is to throw your hands up and push away whatever is unexpectedly coming towards you. If you're holding a stick in your hands at the time, it's going to look like a crosscheck.

In some ways, he's the victim of bad timing. In most cases, this would have been dealt with quickly and been resolved before it became a big story. Instead, this happened in the last night of games before the All-Star break, and the off-week in the NFL before the Super Bowl, so there hasn't been much to talk about in the sports world for almost a week. As a result, everyone and their dog has watched and rewatched the clip and commented on it numerous times.


Just because of the optics of it at this point, I think he'll get 10 games.


From the Flames' perspective, I'm almost hoping he gets a really long suspension so the Flames can request he be given non-roster status so they can call up Nakladal to take his spot. Even without recalling Nakladal, maybe giving Smid and Engelland a lot of playing time over the next couple of weeks might drum up some interest on the trade market for one or both of them.

This could end up being a blessing in disguise for the Flames (and they're not likely to get much worse without Wideman in the lineup).

[OzSome]

Wideman was woozy after the hit so he was trying to get off the ice. Unfortunately the linesman blocked his way. Maybe Wideman thought the linesman was one of the player from the other team but that is not an excuse for crosschecking someone. I understand if the league come down on Wideman with the minimum amount of suspension for hitting an official, which is 10 games. Sucks that it happens but i am sure he and others will learn from that mistake.

I heard that if Wideman gets suspended, Flames are not allowed to call up a defenseman to replace him. It means they are stuck with Smid and Engelland as the 3rd unit.

[Samonadreau]

^ its tricky, they can call up a D if they send a forward down.

[dino7c]

Originally Posted by OzSome

Wideman was woozy after the hit so he was trying to get off the ice. Unfortunately the linesman blocked his way. Maybe Wideman thought the linesman was one of the player from the other team but that is not an excuse for crosschecking someone. I understand if the league come down on Wideman with the minimum amount of suspension for hitting an official, which is 10 games. Sucks that it happens but i am sure he and others will learn from that mistake.

I heard that if Wideman gets suspended, Flames are not allowed to call up a defenseman to replace him. It means they are stuck with Smid and Engelland as the 3rd unit.

who the hell told you that...they can call up whoever they want, might need to send someone the other way though. That being said Smid and Engelland have both been decent this season

[DeluxeMoustache]

Same video as posted earlier.

http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/g...ter-scary-hit/

Geez. The guy takes a pretty hard hit and gets his head smashed in the glass. He is skating hunched over and head down most of the way back. I don't think he was entering a state of Hulkamania.

By the time he gets closer to the bench, he is straightened up. You can't see his eyes, so you don't know if they are open, closed, blinking hard, looking at the play... No idea . What info do we have to gauge intent? His statement, his character, the video of his reaction.

He clearly moves his feet at the very last split second, in a sudden manner. That supports the idea that he was surprised. His arms come up at the last minute. Very reasonable to assume that it was a reaction to the sudden realization that he was going to run in to someone.

On the bench he looked to me like a guy shaking the cobwebs, not like some sociopath.

If you watch carefully, the way he tapped his stick on the ice when he straightened up was kind of like a blind person with one of their walking sticks. When his vision was restored, he immediately tried to swerve by pivoting his feet and brought his arms up.

Ok. That last bit may be ridiculous but it is no more ridiculous than saying he was upset about a hard hit and took it out on the stripes.

Can I speak for him at his hearing?

[getbak]

Originally Posted by dino7c

who the hell told you that...they can call up whoever they want, might need to send someone the other way though. That being said Smid and Engelland have both been decent this season

Yeah, there's the 23 man roster limit until the trade deadline. Players on suspension count against the roster limit.

However, when Torres was suspended for half the season, San Jose got approval for him to have non-roster status during his suspension, so they were able to still have 23 men in the NHL. I don't know if they were given that exemption because of the extraordinary length of the suspension or because he was suspended before the start of the regular season.

[CliffFletcher]

Originally Posted by dino7c

The guys who officiated the game did not see fit to give a misconduct and automatic 10 gamer so what the hell changed overnight? There was public outrage and the union made some calls

None of the officials saw the incident.

[Hockeyguy15]

So frame 1, Wideman before contact is made and trying to stop or turn.

Spoiler!

Frame 2 is the initial contact. The green dotted line is where Wideman's stick is and the red arrow points to his right hand for those who can't see it.

This frame you can clearly (yes clearly) see that Wideman is not making contact with Henderson's head or neck. And if you really want you can skip to frame 4 and see just how far apart Wideman's hands are as they aren't adjusted at all throughout the contact.

The right hand is about on the shoulder of Henderson, and the left one would be about middle of the back as his hands aren't that far apart. When your hands aren't that far apart it's pretty hard to give a good crosscheck.

Spoiler!

3rd picture is almost the same as picture 2, Wideman's right arm is a little more compressed into his body.

Spoiler!

The 4th is when Wideman has his arms extended, you can clearly see how close his hands are together.

Spoiler!

[Resolute 14]

This may have been discussed already since Friedman gave this interview on yesterday's morning show, but it does touch on the inferences I took from Mike Cvik's interview yesterday afternoon. Friedman mused on the potential reaction of the officials if Wideman gets off lightly. He suggested the possibility of the officials falling into a work to rule campaign, and added that would be a bad thing for all involved - players, officials and the league. But he was concerned about the fallout if Wideman got off easily.

He also suggested that the league will probably give him 10+ games, which Bettman would be unlikely to reduce. He did think an independent arbitrator might consider reducing somewhat if Wideman and the union appealed that far.

[GioforPM]

If the officials pulled that they'd lose my respect. That's like cops walking out because they don't like a court verdict.

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by DeluxeMoustache

Same video as posted earlier.

http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/g...ter-scary-hit/

Geez. The guy takes a pretty hard hit and gets his head smashed in the glass. He is skating hunched over and head down most of the way back. I don't think he was entering a state of Hulkamania.

By the time he gets closer to the bench, he is straightened up. You can't see his eyes, so you don't know if they are open, closed, blinking hard, looking at the play... No idea . What info do we have to gauge intent? His statement, his character, the video of his reaction.

He clearly moves his feet at the very last split second, in a sudden manner. That supports the idea that he was surprised. His arms come up at the last minute. Very reasonable to assume that it was a reaction to the sudden realization that he was going to run in to someone.

On the bench he looked to me like a guy shaking the cobwebs, not like some sociopath.

If you watch carefully, the way he tapped his stick on the ice when he straightened up was kind of like a blind person with one of their walking sticks. When his vision was restored, he immediately tried to swerve by pivoting his feet and brought his arms up.

Ok. That last bit may be ridiculous but it is no more ridiculous than saying he was upset about a hard hit and took it out on the stripes.

Can I speak for him at his hearing?

I agree with this. In fact, on the bench it looks like another player is telling him what happened like he didn't even realize it.

I hate playing this card and have been biting my tongue until now, but I think a lot of the people aren't familiar enough with contact sports to realize that when you are hurt and need to remove yourself, your mind is often on one track. To me, it looks like Wideman was looking past the linesman and was just focused on getting to the door, then at the last second, he was like; "Oh crap, a person in front of me!", and made a reflex action. Absolutely no intent IMO.

However, that doesn't mean that I don't think the accident wasn't his fault. The proper thing to do, and I realize it is hard to convince a professional hockey player to do it, but he should have stayed down after the hit.

[Hockeyguy15]

I don't really know what the relationship is like between the officials and the league, but it seems like it's strained to begin with if they are making threats before anything has been done.

Do the officials think they haven't made mistakes before? If they really want to do a work to rule campaign (I'm not even sure what that would mean for them?) I would have no problem with the league playing hard ball with them. Maybe it's time the league starts punishing officials for when they call a bad game?

[Weitz]

There is a huge difference when you will start allowing an open season on contact with officials.

[East Coast Flame]

Originally Posted by Hockeyguy15

So frame 1, Wideman before contact is made and trying to stop or turn.

Spoiler!

Frame 2 is the initial contact. The green dotted line is where Wideman's stick is and the red arrow points to his right hand for those who can't see it.

This frame you can clearly (yes clearly) see that Wideman is not making contact with Henderson's head or neck. And if you really want you can skip to frame 4 and see just how far apart Wideman's hands are as they aren't adjusted at all throughout the contact.

The right hand is about on the shoulder of Henderson, and the left one would be about middle of the back as his hands aren't that far apart. When your hands aren't that far apart it's pretty hard to give a good crosscheck.

Spoiler!

3rd picture is almost the same as picture 2, Wideman's right arm is a little more compressed into his body.

Spoiler!

The 4th is when Wideman has his arms extended, you can clearly see how close his hands are together.

Spoiler!

[Lanny'sDaMan]

Does anyone know when his hearing is set for? I'm assuming 10:00am Eastern, but I have seen nothing concrete

[calgaryblood]

The most telling part to me was how he slammed his stick on the ice in frustration about one second before he made contact with the linesmen. He was clearly frustrated and took it out on the ref. I don't see how this is anything less than 20 games and it's well deserved.

[Samonadreau]

Woozy or not he plowed over a linesman and gave an extra shove away from the play. Hes getting suspended.