OT: NHL defenseman crosschecks ref in the back
In case you haven't seen it yet, last night in the Calgary vs Nashville game, Calgary defenseman Dennis Wideman gets up woozy from a crushing hit into the boards and starts making his way towards the bench. Along the way he runs into a linesman skating backwards, and proceeds to drill him right in the back of the head and shoulders.
Wideman claims it was unintentional and states he has apologized to the linesman in question, no word yet on possible suspension by the NHL. It did not draw a penalty in the game.
Video can be found at the following LINK but I'm having trouble embedding for the board, sorry.
January 28th, 2016 at 10:48 AM ^
that looked pretty intentional to me
January 28th, 2016 at 10:53 AM ^
It looks that way. However, there is a theory that zebras developed their stripes because the black and white alternating pattern confused predators (lions) who were unable to focus on the zebra as well. Maybe something similar happened here???
January 28th, 2016 at 11:21 AM ^
That theory was actually disproven recently. Apparently lions can't see the stripes well enough from a distance to make a difference.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/jvchamary/2016/01/27/zebra-stripes/#1f188d1…
January 28th, 2016 at 11:49 AM ^
Yeah, I read that. But I despise new information that contradicts the interesting tidbits I've accumulated over my lifetime, so I ignored it... :-)
January 28th, 2016 at 11:33 AM ^
I thought they were horses wearing Doppler-Effect halloween costumes???
January 28th, 2016 at 10:50 AM ^
January 28th, 2016 at 10:54 AM ^
January 28th, 2016 at 10:51 AM ^
January 28th, 2016 at 12:19 PM ^
Even if it was another player, that is a dirty hit.
January 28th, 2016 at 1:57 PM ^
January 28th, 2016 at 10:52 AM ^
"Crosscheck" is a pretty strong word for that. It looked like he was pretty out of it and didnt see him until the last second and just put his arms up to protect himself. I doubt he is suspended. Not to mention there was no motive to do that.
January 28th, 2016 at 10:57 AM ^
January 28th, 2016 at 11:04 AM ^
When the ref falls out of the frame, he looked to have both hands on his stick. I'm okay with the word crosscheck.
January 28th, 2016 at 12:46 PM ^
January 28th, 2016 at 2:48 PM ^
I don't care who he hit. He still hit a guy clear in the back who had no flipping clue it was coming. And dangerously close to ramming them into the boards head-first too.
It's suspension-worthy even if he didn't intend to hit a linesman. You just cannot be that reckless.
January 28th, 2016 at 10:52 AM ^
I'm thinking a suspension is in his future after that one
January 28th, 2016 at 10:53 AM ^
January 28th, 2016 at 11:00 AM ^
I suspect that whole "chicken" thing was Brandon's idea.
January 28th, 2016 at 10:55 AM ^
1. Click on YouTube icon; opens new tab at YT site.
2. Click on "Share"
3. Click on "embed"
4. Copy: Ctrl+c (or "apple + c")
5. Return to mgoblog.
6. In post window click "Switch to plain text editor"
7. Paste: Ctrl (or "apple") + v
8. Profit.
January 28th, 2016 at 10:57 AM ^
I was trying to embed a gif from a tweet and that was where i was running into trouble. This tweet in particular has a looping gif of the hit.
January 28th, 2016 at 10:59 AM ^
On deadspin page, you can also hover over the vid, right click, and select "copy embed code." Then proceed as above.
January 28th, 2016 at 10:56 AM ^
what's the big deal?
January 28th, 2016 at 10:59 AM ^
January 28th, 2016 at 10:59 AM ^
There will be a suspension for that. He saw the ref and that was not a motion to just protect yourself, that was a deliberate hit.
January 28th, 2016 at 11:01 AM ^
I tried to use the above advice to post a pic. It did not work. I am sad. I want to learn how to post pics. Can someone teach me? :-(((
January 28th, 2016 at 10:59 AM ^
January 28th, 2016 at 11:01 AM ^
linesman dont call penalties
January 28th, 2016 at 11:15 AM ^
They don't call minors but they can call major penalties. This is likely what Wideman was pissed about. Then again, anyone who is willing to do that to an official in general probably didn't think it through.
Anyone who has played competitive hockey in their lives can tell you that if he was really caught off guard as he claims, he wouldn't have put both hands on his stick. You do that to protect yourself from someone trying to hit you. The linesman clearly wasn't trying to do that. If Wideman was really caught off guard, he would have simply grabbed a hold of the official instead of putting a second hand on his stick and delivering the blow.
January 28th, 2016 at 11:16 AM ^
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January 28th, 2016 at 1:10 PM ^
It's a lot more gray than that. I know the way the USAH hockey rulebook (and I believe NHL is the same) is written, linesman give their interpretation of a penalty to the ref at stoppage of play, even in situations when nothing was called by the ref... and certainly that can lead to a penalty. They also help to determine the level of penalty called (minor, souble minor, major, misconduct etc.) However, you never see linesman raising their arm and intiating a stoppage in play for a penalty.
On this particular play, I seriously doubt Wideman was going after this particular linesman. Anyone that has played/watched a lot of hockey knows these shoves near the benches during changes happen double digit times per game. Wideman is not a notrious dirty player... the most logical explanation to me is his bell was rung, he was disoriented when he got near the bench and mistook the ref for a predators player. The league is in an odd place here, because if they don't suspend Wideman, than they obviously believe he was disoriented... at which point they need to explain why he was allowed to stay in the game.
January 28th, 2016 at 11:00 AM ^
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January 28th, 2016 at 11:29 AM ^
This is the kind of reactionary nonsense that made a lot of people say that Bertuzzi should never play another game.
January 28th, 2016 at 1:02 PM ^
I would have been fine with Bertuzzi getting expelled. That was an attack, not just a dirty hit.
January 28th, 2016 at 11:05 AM ^
How can anyone possibly conclude that is unintentional? He looks right at the linesman for about three seconds before extending both arms right into his back.
January 28th, 2016 at 2:03 PM ^
January 28th, 2016 at 11:08 AM ^
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January 28th, 2016 at 11:44 AM ^
January 28th, 2016 at 11:08 AM ^
There is no way anyone can seriously believe this was unintentional.
January 28th, 2016 at 11:09 AM ^
January 28th, 2016 at 11:34 AM ^
In real time he puts his hands up and moves a bit to the side at the last moment. His body language doesn't make this look intentional. It makes it look like he was dazed and unaware of his surroundings.
January 28th, 2016 at 11:11 AM ^
https://twitter.com/AdamVingan/status/692559523798765570
He's clearly trying to stop and get out of the way. If anything the Flames should be getting in a shit ton of trouble for not running a concussion test and leaving a clearly concussed player in the game.
January 28th, 2016 at 11:19 AM ^
I still don't buy it being completely unintentional. Seems more likely that he attempted to make it seem "accidenatlly on purpose." And even if he somehow actually did get caught off guard, you cannot let this go unpunished. Officials must be protected out there.
January 28th, 2016 at 11:28 AM ^
Except wideman is a 12 year vet with no prior history. Dude wouldn't do something this stupid if he was thinking straight.
Edit: I agree on the punishment though, if only to force him to take time off and let his concussion heal.
January 28th, 2016 at 11:52 AM ^
Yeah and Hitler was once a promising artist and choir boy at a Catholic monastery. Godwined.
January 28th, 2016 at 12:28 PM ^
January 28th, 2016 at 12:40 PM ^
To be fair... he was invoking Godwin's Law.
January 28th, 2016 at 1:19 PM ^
Also he never was a promising choir boy. His artistic skills were closer to that of an engineer than a painter. His inability to draw humans properly has been a source of studies for decades.
January 28th, 2016 at 11:20 AM ^
The reason that angle looks better is because it's in slow motion. When you're trying to get out of the way, you don't raise your stick and extend it with both hands into someone's back. His lack of concern for the official afterwards only confirms the intent.
January 28th, 2016 at 11:21 AM ^
Come on guys you can't assume he had ill intentions here. You could easily assume he's concussed and seeing stars. He's so focused on getting to the bench that he doesn't see the ref backing right into his path until he's right in front of him. His reaction, just like yours would be, is to put up his hands, which happen to be holding his stick, to protect himself. This isn't a player that has a history of discipline issues in the league like a Raffi Torres. I think he gets the benefit of the doubt here.