Monday, February 01, 2016
The Wideman Hit
The
Wideman Hit
For any of you who have ever worn
stripes, or called balls and strikes, the behaviour of Dennis Wideman
of the Calgary Flames likely upset you.
A professional hockey player, with
several years in the NHL, with a reasonably good reputation as a
clean player. After being checked in the corner, he skated toward the
bench. Nearing the bench, he encountered a linesman standing along
the boards, with his back to the game, for some unknown reason.
And for another yet unknown reason,
Wideman crosschecked the linesman sufficiently hard to drop him. Guys
that do the lines in the NHL are not exactly shrinking violets. They
are all tough guys. They are required to skate miles every night;
they get cut with pucks and sticks and skates, and even errant
punches breaking up fights; they are in tremendous physical shape;
they are as strong as oxen; they also have to be peacemakers, on
occasion.
Not all officials are well liked by
the players. There may have been a history with Wideman, and Don
Henderson, but that is something that is not known at this time, and
may never surface. Personally, I do not find it relevant.
Before they ever take the ice, they
work out at the event level in arenas. They run, they stretch, they
quietly do what's necessary to do the job. What they would never
expect is the kind of thing that happened to Henderson. A cheap shot
from someone who knew better.
I threw it out there on FaceBook
after it happened. It has been widely viewed by sports fans. Most
hockey fans have taken the stance that the league has no option but
to follow the rule book to the letter. That would mean that Wideman
would receive a 20 game suspension. That would cost him a chunk of
change.
Others have taken the position that
Wideman may have been hit so hard by Mikka Salomaki that he had no
recollection of striking the linesman. I concur that he did take a
good rap on the head. But he did get up, slowly, and made his way to
the bench.
But before he got to his own bench,
he physically abused the official. For that he should be punished.
He was suspended by the NHL, and
awaits a hearing. Naturally, they will show video of the hit. There
will be several lawyers present. There will be individuals
representing the player, the teams, the officials, and others. They
will have to reach a conclusion. It may come in the form of a
suspension, or a fine.
The league has not had an easy time
lately, botching the John Scott affair. He is the player who was
elected to the All Star game, even though he does not have the skills
to skate with the fastest players in the league. With the
three-on-three format being used this year in the All star game,
Scott would be in very tough. But he was chosen by the fans, in a
format that I can guarantee will be changed.
Next year, the ballot should contain
the names of players who have the skills to play the small team
format. That is if the league wants the fans to vote on the players.
The inmates may not completely run the asylum, in that case.
It was great to see the league
handing over the cheque to John Scott as the captain of the winning
team of the All Star games. The players certainly “circled the
wagons” in support of one of their brother. Rightfully so! His
story is touching, and one to follow. It will be interesting to see
it all falls out.
The NHL meets with Wideman today to
discuss his situation. As always, the clock is ticking....
James Hurst
sportslices.blogspot.com
# posted by James Hurst @ 8:37 PM 
