There’s making contact with an official, and then there’s what Dennis Wideman did on Wednesday night.
The Calgary Flames defenseman cross-checked linesman Don Henderson from behind, crumpling Henderson to the ice near the Nashville Predators bench. The play occurred during the second period of the Predators’ 2-1 win, and Wideman wasn’t penalized. Henderson stayed in the game.
Moments before the incident, Wideman had been checked hard into the boards by the Predators’ Miikka Salomaki, seeming to hit his head. As Wideman skates toward the bench, he appears stunned.
So, did Wideman get concussed? Was a brain injury the reason he couldn’t distinguish between the guy in the striped shirt and one of his opponents in the white sweaters? Maybe that will be his defense when he lands in the league office and tries to avoid a huge suspension (the minimum suspension is 20 games for hitting a referee with intent to injure).
It sure sounds better than the explanation Wideman offered after the game. He said his hit to Henderson was unintentional.
“I took a pretty hard hit down in the corner and had some pretty good pain in my shoulder and my neck and I was just trying to get off the ice,” Wideman said. “And I was kind of keeled over and at the last second, I looked up and I saw him and I couldn’t avoid it.”
At the next stoppage, Wideman skated over to where the officials were gathered and apologized.
“Throughout my career — and I’ve been around for a few years — I think I’ve treated every official with the utmost respect,” Wideman said, “and I would never intentionally try to hit a linesman or a ref or anything like that.”
With Fox Sports and AP