Calgary Flames Learn Of Wideman's 20 Game Suspension

As was widely expected, Calgary Flames defenseman Dennis Wideman has found himself in hot water; suspended for twenty games as a result of body-checking a linesman.

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The incident has fallen foul of Rule 40 (Physical Abuse of Officials), as was expected to be the case with a twenty game streak where he will be illegible for the Calgary Flames.

Wideman has to, under the terms of the Collective Bargaining Agreement and, based on his average annual salary, forfeit $564,516.20. The money goes to the Players’ Emergency Assistance Fund.

This was widely expected to be the case the moment the incident, in the Calgary Flames game with Nashville occurred; the NHL needed to take an authoritative stance regardless of any on-ice penalty or apologies at the time.

The league has, thus by following through, made it clear it isn’t going to tolerate any sort of misconduct towards the officials.

In terms of the actual rule he is being punished with regards to, the NHL rule book states the following:

40.2 Automatic Suspension – Category I – Any player who deliberately strikes an official and causes injury or who deliberately applies physical force in any manner against an official with intent to injure, or who in any manner attempts to injure an official shall be automatically suspended for not less than twenty (20) games. (For the purpose of the rule, “intent to injure” shall mean any physical force which a player knew or should have known could reasonably be expected to cause injury.)

Intent or not, the linesman was clearly injured and ended up at a local hospital post-game, as reported by the Calgary Sun:

Henderson finished the game, but the Calgary Sun learned Wednesday he started experiencing neck pain and nausea after the game and was driven to the hospital where he underwent a series of concussion protocol tests until 5 a.m. He spent Thursday at his Calgary home and was feeling better. (Calgary Sun)

The challenge for the Calgary Flames now is how do they replace the ice-time that Dennis Wideman has been playing; he’s been ever-present in the Calgary Flames line-up up until this point.

Regardless of what option they go for in terms of replacing him, it’s a frustrating situation for all involved. The player can’t play. The Calgary Flames lose out as a result. Possibly the only victory is that the NHL get to enforce the fact this behavior is not to be tolerated.

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Did Dennis Wideman deserve the full twenty-game suspension or was his on-ice apology a sign that he didn’t show any intent and acted up due to the heavy hit he’d taken? How much will the Calgary Flames miss his presence? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.

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