Oh man, was just coming on to post this up,
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Two trains of thought going on here:
#1. Wideman was so shaken up by the hit in the corner, was unaware of his surroundings going back to the bench, and had a last second, knee-jerk reaction when he realized he was on a collision course.
#2. Wideman was shaken up by the hit in the corner, but was so pissed by the non-call, viciously checked the linesman on his way to the bench.
At first I was kinda' leaning towards #1, thinking maybe he was concussed or something, but upon further review, I don't think he missed a shift, played the rest of the game out and I don't really see his explanation about being "hunched over" and not being aware of coming up on the linesman. It also looks like a premeditated check and not a movement of surprise, IMO. I have since changed my ruling to #2 ... the rules are pretty clear on this, you don't touch the refs,
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Ugly, anyway you look at it. I'd like to think a player wouldn't intentionally do that to a ref though,
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