Dennis Wideman Statement Reaction

Well, I told you this story with Dennis Wideman hitting a referee. wouldn't be over.

After receiving a 20-game ban for his hit, Dennis Wideman has come out with a statement, courtesy of the Twitter handle for the Flames. You can watch it here:
https://twitter.com/NHLFlames/status/695348852413456386

Dennis Wideman, in his statement, says that he has apologized to Don Henderson for the hit and has said that the suspension is under appeal, meaning in my mind that he wants to get this reduced because he did not mean to hit the official. He also goes on to talk about how Calgary fans and players respect officials, especially the final game of linesman Mike Cvik.

I'm a little bit torn about whether to believe him or not about all this. Obviously, the NHL had to do something and they felt that he wasn't dazed or confused and that he meant to check the linesman into the boards. But he is saying he didn't mean to, so this is gonna be a long process that's going to find out who was right and who was wrong.

I think if this appeal process goes through and it turns out it was an accident and Wideman did have some confusion during that time, he will have the suspension reduced. But based on what I saw in that video, that seems very unlikely.

Wideman understands that officials have the hardest jobs in the league and Calgary especially goes all-out to respect its official and the jobs that they do. But again, the NHL wanted to send a message, no matter what Wideman has to say. Video evidence, in their case, is enough for him. It almost seems like they don't care about what the player says and it's just about what goes on on the tape. I respect Wideman and that his apology is sincere and straight-forward, but the NHL doesn't want to look bad in the public, which is why they went the 20-game suspension.

I feel like the appeal is going to be dropped down to 10 games. The NHL wants to do something and wants to send Wideman away for some time. I don't know what will happen, but if the suspension is not reduced, then the NHL is basically telling its players that no matter what you say, the video evidence will trump your reasons and arguments. And that's not fair to them or to the rest of the league. So I say good luck to Wideman and I hope the appeal helps your suspension get reduced!