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NHL linesman Henderson required neck surgery after Wideman hit, friends fear his career may be over


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10 hours ago, Chris said:

Anybody saying a concussion isn't an excuse for this has never been hit in the head hard enough to understand what a concussion feels like.

I have had varying degrees of concussions and I've said it repeatedly in all the Wideman threads this isn't an excuse in this case. A concussion that allows him to skate in a controlled manner, signal the bench for a change, angle directly into the path of the linesman(vs more towards his own bench or towards the boards earlier if he really was unsteady) and then cross check him rather than a more defensive gesture is not severe enough to be an excuse.

 

That's not saying he didn't have a concussion, just that if he had one bad enough that he wouldn't have known what he was doing then he wouldn't have been able to skate under control for 30+ feet and be aware enough to calmly signal the bench before anything else. The one sort of stumble as he got up from the hit was the only misstep he took in that whole time.

 

That's not even including his refusal of any help on the bench, and his statements after the game that he felt fine apart from some neck and shoulder soreness.

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1 hour ago, CaNuCkSLoUiE23 said:

Didn't Wideman send out a text afterwards saying that he's only apologizing because of all the heat was getting?

Honestly though I don't think it was right of the NHL to go through his texts like that.

 

But yeah, he said something like "i'm only here because of the stupid referees and the stupid media" or something like that lol

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1 minute ago, shazzam said:

200lbs man in his hockey gear decides to wreck an almost 50y/o linesman from behind. Should kick him out of the league imo. As much as we hate the refs, you never touch a ref.

Considering the extent of Henerson's injuries, and the clearly vicious attack (from behind too) by Wideman, I'm kind of surprised the ref's Union is not considering a stop work action until this is settled to their satisfaction, and their members can work games without fear of being attacked from any direction, but especially from behind.  This seems like a "work safe" issue.  What's to stop players from kabonging any official after receiving a hard body check, and claiming concussion as the excuse?  Is Pandora's box now open?

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5 hours ago, Senpai said:

Honestly though I don't think it was right of the NHL to go through his texts like that.

Considering it was legal to do so and part of the investigation, it most certainly was "right". 

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1 hour ago, Alflives said:

Considering the extent of Henerson's injuries, and the clearly vicious attack (from behind too) by Wideman, I'm kind of surprised the ref's Union is not considering a stop work action until this is settled to their satisfaction, and their members can work games without fear of being attacked from any direction, but especially from behind.  This seems like a "work safe" issue.  What's to stop players from kabonging any official after receiving a hard body check, and claiming concussion as the excuse?  Is Pandora's box now open?

With the way the rules have set up its a 20 game suspension at the most. The NHL doesn't have the authority to suspend him more than that. The refs union knows that there is no way they can push for more.

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Having suffered varying degrees of concussions on different occasions, I feel there is no excuse for his actions. Either A). you're concussed to the point where you're not conscious. (been there, was out cold for some time, didn't know where I was, and I couldn't walk to save my life.) Or B). Dazed, but generally aware of whats going on... IE "Gotta get to the bench". To crosscheck anyone from behind would suggest you're fairly coherent and aware of your surroundings. There are plenty of examples of players getting their bell rung and they just coast to the bench or lay there until the play stops. They have ZERO interest in getting involved in the play. 

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3 hours ago, shazzam said:

200lbs man in his hockey gear decides to wreck an almost 50y/o linesman from behind. Should kick him out of the league imo. As much as we hate the refs, you never touch a ref.

Maybe a little bit of fear would allow the refs to stop endangering players with their irregardless for professionalism?  You think Kelly Sutherland would continue with his garbage if he thought Pedan might turn him into a vegetable?

 

NHL needs to start disciplining problem officials as well if they want to institute stiffer penalties for this kind of incident.

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What nonsense is this? He said after the game maybe if the refs had called a penalty he wouldn't have hit the linesmen he did it out of rage. A concussion for the most part takes awhile to start effecting you. If you are instantly being effected by the concussion youre not skating around throwing your body around. You will have absolutely no idea what's going on and be completely confused. Wideman should be banned for life.

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17 hours ago, LuckyLuciano said:

Should have kept his head on a "swivel"

Haaaaaa yup

 

What Wideman did is clear and the reason why is clear.  Still doesnt make it right. After basically not calling the same hit on Wideman a player finally snapped and this is what we get.   Call the game properly or this will happen again, or a player will be in the same situation as Henderson.  This is a very tough lesson for the NHL to learn. They better take something from it.

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24 minutes ago, peaches5 said:

What nonsense is this? He said after the game maybe if the refs had called a penalty he wouldn't have hit the linesmen he did it out of rage. A concussion for the most part takes awhile to start effecting you. If you are instantly being effected by the concussion youre not skating around throwing your body around. You will have absolutely no idea what's going on and be completely confused. Wideman should be banned for life.

Gotta agree with peaches5 on this.

It was retaliatory, vicious, causing serious injury, not at all within the rules of the game, he knew he was cross checking an official, et cetera.

No matter what the Department of Player Stupidity says, this is beyond the game, and should attract criminal assault and battery charges as well as civil charges for loss of income, personal injury, etc.

Should not be allowed to play professional hockey again.

The officials should take a stand and refuse to officiate any game until he is charged.

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I've had too many concussions, I was shut down from exercise for 6 months after getting a 3rd concussion in a calendar year from Lacrosse and DH Mountain Biking.  Never not once did I experience aggression from a concussion, most times I was disoriented and and sluggish.  I could maybe buy the argument if Wideman said he didn't know he was hitting a linesman.  he could have thought it was a player, but the bottom line to me is, he has not been accountable for his actions.  Excuses are just that.  In my opinion Wideman should have had the book thrown at him regardless of a concussion.  He got off way too easy.

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4 hours ago, Mr.DirtyDangles said:

Haaaaaa yup

 

What Wideman did is clear and the reason why is clear.  Still doesnt make it right. After basically not calling the same hit on Wideman a player finally snapped and this is what we get.   Call the game properly or this will happen again, or a player will be in the same situation as Henderson.  This is a very tough lesson for the NHL to learn. They better take something from it.

The hit on Wideman was a legal hit as far as I'm concerned. I'm not going to go back to review it again, but I remember thinking that at the time. It was shoulder to shoulder on a player eligible to be hit. The hit on the linesman was in the back - even if it was a player they wouldn't have been eligible to be hit.

 

Wideman snapped alright, but he really didn't have any reason to other than his own frustration.

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7 hours ago, Toews said:

With the way the rules have set up its a 20 game suspension at the most. The NHL doesn't have the authority to suspend him more than that. The refs union knows that there is no way they can push for more.

Incorrect. The initial suspension of 20  was set at the minimum for the infraction. The rule allowed for more but I don't think they had enough evidence to make it stick in the event of an appeal. Obviously even the minimum didn't stick after appeal. 

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