Gary Bettman didn’t budge.
The NHL commissioner announced Wednesday afternoon he is upholding the 20-game suspension handed to Calgary Flames defenceman Dennis Wideman for an ugly collision with linesman Don Henderson in late January.
Wideman, who appealed the abuse-of-official ban to Bettman last week, still has the right to ask a neutral arbitrator to review the verdict.
In his 22-page ruling, Bettman wrote: “I am troubled by Mr. Wideman's total failure to accept any responsibility for his actions. 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.