The NHL are to investigate Calgary Flames defenseman Dennis Wideman after he was caught cross-checking an official during his team’s 2-1 loss to the Nashville Predators on Wednesday.
Wideman had just absorbed a hit from Nashville’s Miikka Salomaki during the second period and was skating toward Calgary’s bench when he blindsided linesman Don Henderson and sent him crashing to the ice near the boards. He was not penalized for the play.
At the next stoppage, Wideman skated over to where the officials were gathered and apologized, but the NHL confirmed that it would be looking into the incident.
Wideman said afterward the contact with 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,” he 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.”
He continued: “Throughout my career, and I’ve been around for a few years, I think I’ve treated every official with the utmost respect, and I would never intentionally try to hit a linesman or a ref or anything like that. It was completely unintentional, and I already apologized to him.”
The 32-year-old former All-Star will face a suspension of no less than 20 games if Colin Campbell, the NHL’s senior executive vice president of hockey operations, determines that he attacked Henderson deliberately.
According to the league rule book:
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.)
40.3 Automatic Suspension – Category II – Any player who deliberately applies physical force to an official in any manner (excluding actions as set out in Category I), which physical force is applied without intent to injure, or who spits on an official, shall be automatically suspended for not less than ten (10) games.
The most recent suspension of a player for abusing officials came during the 2014 Stanley Cup playoffs, when the New York Rangers’ Daniel Carcillo was banned 10 games for pushing a linesman while being escorted to the penalty box.
Flames coach Bob Hartley said: “We all know Wides; a great guy. He’s not an aggressive person of any nature, and it was just like a bad accident.”
