After the NHL announced Wednesday it's upholding the 20-game suspension to Calgary Flames defenseman Dennis Wideman, people had plenty to say.
Flames president of hockey operations Brian Burke didn't hold back on his thoughts on the league's ruling and the length of the process.
"Now, if this is appealed to the neutral arbitrator, they've virtually guaranteed that the player's going to do 10 games no matter what because it's going to take a couple days to get this thing put all together," Burke said on Sportsnet's "Tim And Sid."
"So to take a week to rubber-stamp a decision that was made by the hockey operations department of the NHL as games tick off for my player, that affect my team's ability to win, that affect playoff races, that affect competitive balance, is incomprehensible to me."
Related: Wideman text to teammate blamed hearing on 'stupid refs and stupid media'
There was a flurry of reaction to commissioner Gary Bettman's ruling, which cited a text message Wideman sent to a teammate in which he blamed the hearing on the "stupid refs and stupid media." Bettman noted the apology was "somewhat hollow."
Asked Burke on Wideman text: "I was at the hearing. Dennis Wideman's apology was absolutely sincere. As was mine. As was Brad Treliving's."
— Arash Madani (@ArashMadani) February 17, 2016
The media had a field day on Twitter following the release of the text:
So... Gary Bettman can’t read *everyone’s* text messages, right? Asking for a friend.
— Down Goes Brown (@DownGoesBrown) February 17, 2016
That sound you hear is about 700 NHLers deleting their text messages. #Wideman
— Ryan McByks (@IAmByks) February 17, 2016
Memo
— Larry Brooks (@NYP_Brooksie) February 17, 2016
To: Dennis Wideman.
Subject: "Who's stupid now?"
Wideman should argue that he was extremely concussed when he sent that text.
— Jason Brough (@JasonPHT) February 17, 2016
The parody account of Wideman's teammate Sean Monahan had no choice but to chime in on the incident:
I spoke to Dennis Wideman today. pic.twitter.com/Z7xpyyE6D8
— Boring Sean Monahan (@boringmonahan) February 17, 2016
