Flames defenceman Dennis Wideman has been suspended indefinitely by the NHL, following a bizarre incident involving linesman Don Henderson on Wednesday.
NHL Public Relations kept things pretty brief on NHL.com yesterday:
Calgary Flames defenseman Dennis Wideman has been suspended pending a hearing with NHL Hockey Operations on Tuesday, February 2, for an incident involving linesman Don Henderson during NHL Game No. 742 Wednesday, January 27, at Scotiabank Saddledome.
The NHL is likely going to try and dig more information on the incident, if they can. They’re also conveniently pushing a decision until after the NHL All-Star Game.
If Wideman did this on purpose, as it appears, it needs to be met with a stiff punishment.
Breaking: linesman Don Henderson was in hospital until 5 am following hit by Wideman, dealing w neck pain & nausea. Concussion protocol done
— Eric Francis (@EricFrancis) January 28, 2016
While it would seem unlikely that Wideman would have a motive to injure Henderson, I’m not sure it should matter in this instance. The NHL needs to punish the act, not the psychology behind the act.
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Sending an official to the hospital for no good reason is not something that can be tolerated.
Official rules on the wideman hit. Automatic 10 or 20 game suspension. #CalgaryFlames #NHL pic.twitter.com/P25eLxTRqj
— john wheatley (@wheatles87) January 28, 2016
The question now, is how many games does Wideman get? It could be 10 games, or it could be 20.
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