Conventional wisdom says “maybe don’t comment on the not-hockey sport”. Then again, I’m a huge football fan and can’t really help myself. Not to mention, through six degrees of separation, there very definitely is some sort of tie-in if you look hard enough. I guess.

On the one hand, I can’t help but appreciate that Peyton Manning gets to – likely – go out on top. On the other, the Panthers losing is a loss for fun in sports. Watching Carolina “dab” and smile and jump around and do Superman poses was great. Within minutes of the final whistle, there were any number of media outlets and analysts dancing on their graves because they challenged the austere norm in professional sports.

Don’t think the Panthers will be a little more hesitant to dab next season? I certainly hope not.

Was more than a little upset that I was at work when news broke about Weber being reassigned to the Utica Comets of the AHL. I most certainly have feelings about this one and lamented not being able to infuse them into the news item.

This move doesn’t really sting through the lens of asset management. Betting on Weber’s success to carry from last season into this was sound and the investment minimal. In fact, the Canucks are hardly suffering this decision financially – about $600,000 remaining against the cap until the end of this season.

It’s perhaps unsettling though that a franchise hellbent on competing for a playoff spot genuinely values players like Matt Bartkowski, Luca Sbisa and Alex Biega more than Weber. Weber is far and away a better option at even strength than all of these players and offers considerably more with the man advantage.

Well, according to www.SportClubStats.com the Canucks have a 17.4% chance of making the playoffs. That’s no Bueno. Makes one wonder at what point Canucks management catches the writing on the wall. If management holds on to expiring contracts beyond the deadline, I will be apoplectic. 

It’s been all quiet on the Western front in the lead up to the February 29th Trade Deadline. Well, the Eastern front too for that matter. Especially compared to last season, where the trade deadline was essentially a month long affair riddled with player transactions. 

I wonder to what extent the contract situations of Andrew Ladd and Dustin Byfuglien are holding up the market. If the Winnipeg Jets can’t re-sign Ladd or Byfuglien, they instantly become the two best players at their respective positions on the market. There’s a precedent to be set here.

Having suffered a few concussions myself, I really do empathize with Wideman. After my first, I couldn’t tell you where I was, what day or year it was and why I was at a hockey rink – well after coming back to, no less. So, yeah, I do find it entirely believable that in a daze Wideman very likely could have mistaken the linesman for a Nashville Predators player at the last minute.

Here’s the thing, without a camera angle from the front, we’ll never really know whether the linesman genuinely comes into his line of sight or not, until the last minute. It’s extremely believable that Wideman was bulgy eyed and out of it entirely or looking down at his feet.

I don’t think it helps Wideman’s cause that he wasn’t removed from the game immediately thereafter to undergo concussion protocol in the quiet room – in terms of health and punishment alike. This isn’t to say I don’t think Wideman shouldn’t have been suspended. Just that I think 20-games is a tad high. Perhaps the NHL, knowing full well that Wideman would appeal, came up with an unreasonably high number so as to make the punishment suiting assuming Wideman comes out on top in an appeal.

It’s unfortunate on every level and the optics are terrible. At the end of the day, Wideman is responsible for his actions – concussion or not and we can’t even say definitively that he did or did not have one. There’s just so much grey where this event is concerned. 

If you haven’t yet, check out Canucks Army’s trade deadline contest for free swag at Violent Gentlemen!

Here’s the link: http://canucksarmy.com/2016/1/30/deadline-day-contest-for-free-stuff