During a Wednesday night game between the Calgary Flames and Nashville Predators, Calgary defenseman Dennis Wideman curiously checked linesman Don Henderson into the boards, prompting much debate and confusion.
While many have reasoned that Calgary Flames defenseman Dennis Wideman was woozy or blatantly confused, I’m having trouble buying the story that the hit he laid on linesman Don Henderson last night was unintentional.
First, he sped up as he approached the veteran linesman.
While many players may make a dash towards their bench in order to prevent a too many men on the ice penalty, Wideman was inching towards the bench before all-of-the-sudden barreling into Henderson.
Furthermore, Wideman fully extended his arms in a cross-checking motion as he skated past Henderson without checking on his condition.
After being handed an indefinite suspension from the league, Wideman offered a statement to ESPN on Thursday:
“I took a pretty good hit down in the corner and had some pretty good pain in my shoulder and neck,” Wideman said. “I was just trying to get off the ice and kind of keeled over. At the last second, I looked up and saw [Henderson] and couldn’t avoid it. I went up to Donnie and apologized to him on the ice.
“I didn’t see him. I didn’t know where to go and how to get out of the way. I’ve been around for a few years, and I think I’ve treated every official with the utmost respect, and I would never intentionally try to hit a linesman or a ref. It was completely unintentional, and I already apologized to him.”
What do you think?
