NHL 'strenuously disagrees' as arbitrator reduces Wideman's suspension
原始发布日期： 2016-03-11 发布者：李方字变大 字变小
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Calgary Flames defenceman Dennis Wideman,was slapped with one of the longest suspensions in NHL history as punishment for his hit on linesman Don Henderson last week. Finally, the Dennis Wideman saga is over. The Calgary Flames defender had his 20-game suspension reduced to 10 games by neutral arbitrator James Oldham on Friday morning, the final result of a two-day hearing held in New York City on Feb. 25 and Feb. 26. The decision ended a lengthy appeal process which had been ongoing since the incident with linesman Don Henderson during the Flames’ game on Jan. 27 against the Nashville Predators, in which Wideman ran into Henderson, sending him to the ice. On Friday, the National Hockey League and the National Hockey League Players’ Association released an 18-page document from Oldham which took into account Wideman’s 11-year discipline-free NHL career and indicated that there was “no occasion to go beyond the 10-game minimum.” The suspension was reduced to a Category II suspension (Rule 40.3) from a Category I (Rule 40.2) under Rule 40 (the Physical Abuse of Officials). “Wideman did not, in my opinion, ‘deliberately strike,’ Henderson,” Oldham wrote in the document. “I do not think that Wideman’s behavior was animated by an intent to injure Henderson, even taking into account the parenthetical definition of “intent to injure.”” The NHL released a statement on the suspension’s reduction. “We strenuously disagree with the Arbitrator’s ruling and are reviewing the Opinion in detail to determine what next steps may be appropriate,” the statement said. “We will have no further comment until we have completed our review. In light of and in response to Arbitrator Oldham’s Opinion, Mr. Wideman will be reinstated and will be eligible to participate in his team’s games, effective immediately.” Wideman was slated to serve his 20th game tonight versus the Arizona Coyotes and now could potentially play. It’s been a long process for the 32-year-old and the Flames who have been waiting since the third and final appeal process in New York late last month. When the ordeal is over, he will have lost around $250,000 US in earnings. Brian Burke, the Flames president of Hockey Operations, will address the media prior to Friday’s game at the Scotiabank Saddledome. “The last couple of weeks, I’ve been just preparing to play as soon as I can and as soon as the decision comes down,” Wideman said earlier this week in his first public comments in more than a month. “Whatever it is, I’ll deal with it and be ready to play as soon as I can. “Right now, I’m just concentrating on making sure I’m ready to go whenever the decision comes and whenever I’m eligible to play again.” Wideman has been practising with the team since the suspension. “It’s been tough. It’s been a long time. It’s been a long process,” he said on Wednesday. “You try to deal with it and stay as positive as I can be, especially when I’m around the guys. But no, it’s been difficult … all I’m concentrating on is trying to get ready and when it does come down, being ready to play and help.” A month ago, Wideman issued a public apology to linesman Don Henderson and said he was “disappointed” with the 20-game suspension originally handed to him after in-person disciplinary hearing in Toronto. The NHLPA appealed the suspension on his behalf and, following the second hearing, the suspension was upheld by NHL commissioner Gary Bettman. At that time, the NHL released a scathing ruling on Feb. 17. The 22-page document referenced a text message sent by the Flames’ alternate captain to one of his teammates. “I am troubled by Mr. Wideman’s total failure to accept any responsibility for his actions,” Bettman said in the ruling. “Indeed, although he made much at the hearing about the apologies he had already made to Mr. Henderson, the sincerity of those apologies rings somewhat hollow given the text message he sent to a teammate on February 2 — after the conclusion of the hearing before Mr. (Colin) Campbell — that ‘[t]he only problem and the only reason I’m here is cause the stupid refs and stupid media.’ “ Prior to the incident, the 11-year- NHL veteran had never been suspended or fined — but the NHL has made it clear through the entire process that it didn’t excuse his cross-check on Henderson. Henderson hasn’t officiated a game since the incident. Flames general manager Brad Treliving — who attended all three of Wideman’s hearings — has been empathetic that Wideman is truly apologetic for his collision with Henderson “I know that text message now is getting a lot of play,” Treliving had said last month. “But I can tell you that going through this process from the start and being at both hearings and being around our player, his remorse, his apology and the way he feels about what happened to Don Henderson is sincere. It’s authentic, it’s real, and nobody should think differently. “I know his apology to Don Henderson is heartfelt and is sincere.” This is the first time under the current collective bargaining agreement that an appeal has been taken to a third party. Speaking publicly about the lengthy process, Burke said the result has been a frustrating experience for Wideman and the organization. “This delay is not fair to players,” Burke had told Global News on Thursday. “And conversely to us, if it’s reduced to 10 games, and we’ve played the last eight games without one of our top four defenceman, that’s not right.” kodland@postmedia.com Twitter/Kristen_Odland (摘自Calgary Herald) |