The NHL handed a 20-game suspension to Dennis Wideman for his blindside assault on linesman Don Henderson, but the book is far from closed on the incident.
The NHLPA has already announced that it will seek an appeal with Commissioner Gary Bettman. If not satisfied by that result, the union can take it one step further by pleading its case in front of an independent arbitrator. There’s no telling exactly how many games the Calgary Flames defenseman will end up serving.
At this point, that’s almost a secondary concern. Because in announcing the ruling, the NHL opened a whole new can of worms regarding the viability of its concussion protocols.