poetica Posted February 8, 2016 Share Posted February 8, 2016 This is becoming a no win situation for the NHL. If they uphold the suspension, they appear like they're not taking head injuries seriously, which is especially bad with the current lawsuit. If they reduce the suspension, they appear to not take violence against the officials seriously. They also appear to give players the ability to claim a concussion to excuse their behavior and avoid punishment. This is one time I actually feel sorry for the NHL. Though I'm certainly concerned with the issue of head traumas and strongly believe that the NHL needs to do more to reduce them and punish those who cause them, Wideman's claim makes me more than a little suspicious. Not only did he not leave the game, after the game he only said his shoulder and arm were hurting as he went back to the ice. He never said he had double vision (as one former WWE wrestler and now CTE researcher said) or any other symptoms of a head injury. (Plus, though seeing double is certainly serious it does not indicate a lack of decision making ability, cause the confusion between a ref's jersey and a player's jersey, or cause the complete lack of empathy he displayed once he realized he had hit an official.) Further, a mere week later he had apparently already been cleared for full practice. I get every concussion is different, but that seems like an incredibly quick recovery when he had apparently been so concussed so as to confuse an official for another player and/or not see him at all and not realize that he had raised his arms to cross check one. I'm not saying he didn't suffer a head injury of any kind. I am, however, calling BS on claiming that it means he wasn't responsible for his actions. He either was responsible or he wasn't. There can't be any middle ground here. And if the NHL declares that a head injury is a get out of jail free card, what will stop players from using that to get away with other violent assaults? And what will stop teams from diagnosing players with concussions in order to protect their stars from suspensions? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LuckyLuciano Posted February 9, 2016 Share Posted February 9, 2016 LOS ANGELES, Calif. - Blake Griffin was suspended four games without pay on Tuesday for punching a team staff member, and the Los Angeles Clippers will dock the star forward's pay for an additional game because he broke his shooting hand. In all, Griffin will lose $859,442 from his season salary of $18,907,725. ------------------ Wideman losing just under $600,000 over 20 games Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Realtor Rod Posted February 10, 2016 Share Posted February 10, 2016 3 hours ago, LuckyLuciano said: LOS ANGELES, Calif. - Blake Griffin was suspended four games without pay on Tuesday for punching a team staff member, and the Los Angeles Clippers will dock the star forward's pay for an additional game because he broke his shooting hand. In all, Griffin will lose $859,442 from his season salary of $18,907,725. ------------------ Wideman losing just under $600,000 over 20 games The 2 sports are not comparable on earnings Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr.Strangelove Posted February 10, 2016 Share Posted February 10, 2016 He has his appeal hearing today Serious credit to whomever made this gif Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benchsplinters Posted February 14, 2016 Share Posted February 14, 2016 On February 4, 2016 at 10:35 PM, Fateless said: I don't even know how to respond to your analogy since the Bertuzzi/Moore incident is not even remotely close to this Wideman incident. Bertuzzi sucker-punched moore in the head and dog-piled on him in retaliation for a hit on Naslund in the previous meeting. Wideman's head made contact with the boards after a questionable hit and proceeded to stumble to the bench and skating directly into a referee which he arguably did not realize was there. I'm more than willing to acknowledge that I'm wrong when given unadultered evidence that Wideman intended to hit the referee, but until I see that my opinion based on the evidence and circumstances is that it was unintentional. Bertuzzi on the other hand was a pre-meditated (literally decided days before-hand) assault from behind with malicious intent to injure. Apples to oranges much? You have your theory and I have mine. When a person's anger gets the best of him and he does something stupid and knows the punishment may be severe, he deflects responsibility for his actions to someone/something else. That is human nature whether you like it or not. In this case he hit a referee and they are strictly off limits and he played his trump card by saying "I didn't know what I was doing." If he was in such a fog, why did he and the team not follow the concussion protocol and use that as an excuse? What happened to his appeal? Some of us were born at night, but not last night. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fateless Posted February 14, 2016 Share Posted February 14, 2016 17 minutes ago, Benchsplinters said: You have your theory and I have mine. When a person's anger gets the best of him and he does something stupid and knows the punishment may be severe, he deflects responsibility for his actions to someone/something else. That is human nature whether you like it or not. In this case he hit a referee and they are strictly off limits and he played his trump card by saying "I didn't know what I was doing." If he was in such a fog, why did he and the team not follow the concussion protocol and use that as an excuse? What happened to his appeal? Some of us were born at night, but not last night. Again, you can't blame Wideman for the Flames failing to follow concussion protocol. The NHL themselves acknowledged after a medical examination that Wideman DID IN FACT suffer a concussion. There is an investigation on-going to see if and why the Flames failed to follow the protocol. So why blame Wideman for a failing on the organization's part? Even if Wideman tried to pass it off on the bench as "I'm fine" - its still the responsibility of the medical staff to pull him to the Quiet Room. So again, I'm not saying he couldn't have done it on purpose but simply there are a lot of mitigating circumstances. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alflives Posted February 14, 2016 Share Posted February 14, 2016 3 minutes ago, Fateless said: Again, you can't blame Wideman for the Flames failing to follow concussion protocol. The NHL themselves acknowledged after a medical examination that Wideman DID IN FACT suffer a concussion. There is an investigation on-going to see if and why the Flames failed to follow the protocol. So why blame Wideman for a failing on the organization's part? Even if Wideman tried to pass it off on the bench as "I'm fine" - its still the responsibility of the medical staff to pull him to the Quiet Room. So again, I'm not saying he couldn't have done it on purpose but simply there are a lot of mitigating circumstances. Kadri just used the same lame-ass excuse, "I was in a fog." Wideman should have got the rest of this season. He's a flame, and this is a Canuck's board. Proper Canuck's fans want the Flames and their fan base to suffer. I would expect other Canadian teams' fans want us Canuck's fans to suffer too. Personally, I want the Flames to just miss the playoffs, so they don't get a top ten pick, and still suffer the pain of missing the playoffs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fateless Posted February 14, 2016 Share Posted February 14, 2016 1 hour ago, Alflives said: Kadri just used the same lame-ass excuse, "I was in a fog." Wideman should have got the rest of this season. He's a flame, and this is a Canuck's board. Proper Canuck's fans want the Flames and their fan base to suffer. I would expect other Canadian teams' fans want us Canuck's fans to suffer too. Personally, I want the Flames to just miss the playoffs, so they don't get a top ten pick, and still suffer the pain of missing the playoffs. I know its a difficult concept on CDC, but people can be avid Canucks fan while still looking at other teams around the league without malice and bias. I have no love for the Flames, but I do want unbiased refereeing and discipline handed out around the league - all I've done is present my opinion on the collision which I understand is an uncommon opinion on these boards. I'd love to see the Flames just miss the playoffs as well - that has nothing to do with the Wideman incident. I'm allowed to hate the Flames while still disagree with a call made against them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldnews Posted February 14, 2016 Share Posted February 14, 2016 1 hour ago, Fateless said: Again, you can't blame Wideman for the Flames failing to follow concussion protocol. The NHL themselves acknowledged after a medical examination that Wideman DID IN FACT suffer a concussion. There is an investigation on-going to see if and why the Flames failed to follow the protocol. So why blame Wideman for a failing on the organization's part? Even if Wideman tried to pass it off on the bench as "I'm fine" - its still the responsibility of the medical staff to pull him to the Quiet Room. So again, I'm not saying he couldn't have done it on purpose but simply there are a lot of mitigating circumstances. I agree - and what's more - I want to see officials suspended for incidents like this - a player's head rammed into the boards - impossible to miss - and not even a minor assessed - and no mention of reviewing the lack of call on the ice. The player's safety, wadr, is just as important as a linesman or official's. Hard to take the NHL seriously in this respect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RUPERTKBD Posted February 14, 2016 Share Posted February 14, 2016 2 hours ago, Alflives said: Kadri just used the same lame-ass excuse, "I was in a fog." Wideman should have got the rest of this season. He's a flame, and this is a Canuck's board. Proper Canuck's fans want the Flames and their fan base to suffer. I would expect other Canadian teams' fans want us Canuck's fans to suffer too. Personally, I want the Flames to just miss the playoffs, so they don't get a top ten pick, and still suffer the pain of missing the playoffs. Disagree. "Proper" Canuck fans should be able to look at situations and judge them based on their merits, rather than a pre-conceived bias, based on the team they happen to play for. It's entirely possible to be a level headed fan and a Canuck fan at the same time, despite evidence to the contrary being constantly posted on CDC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alflives Posted February 14, 2016 Share Posted February 14, 2016 45 minutes ago, Fateless said: I know its a difficult concept on CDC, but people can be avid Canucks fan while still looking at other teams around the league without malice and bias. I have no love for the Flames, but I do want unbiased refereeing and discipline handed out around the league - all I've done is present my opinion on the collision which I understand is an uncommon opinion on these boards. I'd love to see the Flames just miss the playoffs as well - that has nothing to do with the Wideman incident. I'm allowed to hate the Flames while still disagree with a call made against them. Just so long as you hate the Flames, and want them, and their fans, to suffer.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fateless Posted February 14, 2016 Share Posted February 14, 2016 49 minutes ago, Alflives said: Just so long as you hate the Flames, and want them, and their fans, to suffer.. Sure, but I want them to suffer because they're worse at hockey than the Canucks - not because they're unfairly punished by the league/officials. I've been a Canucks fan long enough to hate the officials more than I hate the Flames - all I want is a league where punishment is handed out appropriately and without bias. Unfortunately that rarely happens. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CALGARY! Posted February 17, 2016 Share Posted February 17, 2016 On 2016-02-03 at 2:32 PM, Shift-4 said: Most Flames fans would disagree with you. They welcome the suspension. Agreed, hoping to see Wideman traded for pretty much anything, hes a third pairing Dman who can play a PP, we have 4 Dman ahead of him on the depth chart, whats so special about him? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-Vintage Canuck- Posted February 17, 2016 Author Share Posted February 17, 2016 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NHL'er Posted February 17, 2016 Share Posted February 17, 2016 Always a pleasure watching the Flames suffer even when it is of no benefit to the Canucks whatsoever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heretic Posted February 17, 2016 Share Posted February 17, 2016 Don't do the crime if you can't do the time. Bettman upholds Wideman's 20-game suspension Dennis Wideman , Mike Stobe/NHLI via Getty Images Dennis Wideman’s 20-game suspension was upheld upon appeal by NHL commissioner Gary Bettman on Wednesday. According to the Collective Bargaining Agreement, Wideman can now further appeal to neutral arbitrator James Oldham since Bettman kept the suspension longer than six games. http://www.tsn.ca/bettman-upholds-wideman-s-20-game-suspension-1.439445 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cuporbust Posted February 17, 2016 Share Posted February 17, 2016 1 minute ago, Heretic said: Don't do the crime if you can't do the time. Bettman upholds Wideman's 20-game suspension Dennis Wideman , Mike Stobe/NHLI via Getty Images Dennis Wideman’s 20-game suspension was upheld upon appeal by NHL commissioner Gary Bettman on Wednesday. According to the Collective Bargaining Agreement, Wideman can now further appeal to neutral arbitrator James Oldham since Bettman kept the suspension longer than six games. http://www.tsn.ca/bettman-upholds-wideman-s-20-game-suspension-1.439445 I am surprised and impressed. Good on the NHL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neversummer Posted February 17, 2016 Share Posted February 17, 2016 Did anyone expect that Buttman would do anything else other than to uphold the suspension? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mackcanuck Posted February 17, 2016 Share Posted February 17, 2016 Wideman sent text msg to teammate on Feb. 2: "(t)he only problem and the only reason I'm here is cause the stupid refs and stupid media." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poetica Posted February 17, 2016 Share Posted February 17, 2016 I'm actually a bit shocked. Kind of expected Bettman to half the suspension, but after reading that text message Wideman sent a teammate I'm really glad it was upheld. If he's saying that had the "stupid refs" called the hit on him that he wouldn't have hit the linesman that only proves conscious intent. If it was truly an accident caused by head trauma, it would have happened no matter if the call had been made or not. And frankly it's greatly concerning for someone claiming head trauma as his excuse to show so little regard for the health and well being of the person he injured. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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