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Todd Cordell
I think three-to-five games is appropriate.
Dennis Wideman was clearly dazed following a big hit he received a few seconds prior and, regardless what he or the team say, he probably wasn't in the right state of mind to understand what was happening.
In saying that he hit an official, which is simply not allowed. If he's not suspended it would send the wrong message and leave grey area for what kind of contact with an official is suspension worthy and what isn't.
James Tanner
Dennis Wideman doesn't have any kind of reputation for dirtyness or crazy behavior, so I think he has earned the right to be taken at his word when he says it was an accident.
I don't see why there has to be a middle ground here: either he made a vicsious attack on an official, in which case I think you have to give him a massive season long suspension or even outright banishment from the league - you simply cannot allow the assault of referees.
Yet, if we accept that it was some sort of accident, and don't choose to "throw the book" at him, why should he be punished at all?
So, either he did it on purpose and is a crazy person who is a danger to everyone he takes the ice with and should be kicked out of the league, or what he did was an accident and he should not be suspended at all.
I believe him when he says he didn't do it on purpose, so no suspension.
Peter Tessier
The easy thing to suggest is 10 game as some provisions outlined in the NHL rulebook suggest but this is not an actual attack on an official. The bigger question is how Wideman explains the collision. If indeed he had been 'rattled' from the hit earlier then perhaps the league needs to look at why he stayed in the game too?
Wideman deserves some supplementary discipline- but 10 games is probably too much. I would suggest 5 but also a fine for the Flames for not following any concussion protocol and leaving a player, who now claims he had been affected by a hit, in the game after he injured an official.
Jason Lewis
I'm going to have to be vanilla on this and pretty much abstain.
I can't really decide where I stand. It's such a strange case. My immediate knee jerk reaction? Yea he hit the ref. He was mad about a non-call and took out his frustration in the worst way possible.
Can't work on knee jerk reactions though. He was hit into the boards violently not seconds before and might not have been sure where he was at or what was going on. You look at it one day and it looks like he does it on purpose. You look at it the next day and it looks like he was not sure where he was at, saw the ref and just got his hands up and decked him going to the bench. I can't begin to imagine having to sit down and actually dole out punishment for this. I've never seen players who were concussed react the way he did though. Lots to consider here.
If I HAD to, I'd say there is enough evidence there from the video to go 10 games.
Ed Stein
First of all, if you haven't read Paul Stewart's recent blogs about the incident, you should.
For my part, I think 8-10 games is fair. It's obvious to me that Dennis Wideman was knocked loopy from the Salomaki hit. I think in his "not all there" state, he was going to hit anything on the ice that wasn't wearing red. Unfortunately, he hit linesman Don Henderson. As Stewart pointed out, there is no excuse for hitting an official. He does deserve a suspension. Wideman's past history (or lack there of) and remorse over the incident leads me to believe that anything more than 10 games would be excessive.
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