Dennis Wideman, the Calgary Flames defenseman recently suspended for 20 games after hitting linesman Don Henderson last week, did not get a severe enough penalty, according to ESPN's Linda Cohn.
In a conversation with HuffPost Live's Caroline Modarressy-Tehrani on Thursday, the sportscaster explained that she would have penalized Wideman for at least 25 games. She went so far as to suggest he could have been suspended for the rest of the season. She explained:
The NHL made a statement by giving Dennis Wideman 20 games. If they would have given him less, that would have been a mistake. If they would have given him more, which I think he should have gotten more ... at least 25, perhaps 30. You know, their season -- I think they only have 33 games left. So you could have made a great case to just [say], 'That's it. You're out for the rest of the season.' I would not be shaking my head.
Wideman's initial statements after the hit were that his head was down and he didn't see the official. But reports predicted he would later blame the contact on feeling "woozy" from a hit immediately prior. But, woozy or not, Cohn is not buying it and she said this was not a case of incidental contact.
"These guys are professional skaters," she said. "I don't care how woozy you are. And if you were so woozy, why weren't you back in the 'quiet room'? They have a quiet room in the back when you're hit in the head where they do concussion testing. He came right back out on the bench, so don't give me that."
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