Dennis Wideman’s collision with linesman Don Henderson lit an instant reaction on social media, but the Calgary Flames defenseman maintained to reporters that he couldn’t avoid the contact and there was no intent behind it.
Wideman was hit awkwardly into the boards a few seconds before colliding with Henderson in the neutral zone. As Wideman skated slowly to the bench, he hit Henderson -- who was facing the play as he backed up, and did not see the Calgary blue liner -- hard to the ice, with two hands on his stick similar to a cross check.
There was no call on the play. The Flames lost by a final score of 2-1 to the visiting Nashville Predators.
“I was just trying to get off the ice. And, at the last second, I looked up and saw him,” Wideman told Kristen Odland of Postmedia.
"I couldn’t avoid it. I didn’t know where to go or how to get out of the way of him.”
— Kristen Anderson (@KdotAnderson) January 28, 2016
MOre Wideman: "It was completely unintentional and I already apologized to him."
— Eric Francis (@EricFrancis) January 28, 2016