Tom Brady vs. Gary Bettman, as NHLPA defends Wideman ruling
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The Dennis Wideman case has already produced one odd little connection to Tom Brady.
Please recall how in NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman’s initial ruling, he used the private text messages between Wideman and former teammate Gregory Campbell as evidence that the Calgary Flames defenseman offered “hollow” apologies for attacking linesman Don Henderson. The NY Post among others mentioned this was “Tom Brady’s worst nightmare,” considering his own cell phone drama with Roger Goodell during DeflateGate.
Now, the connection to Brady is a bit more overt in the Wideman case. The NHLPA used the New England Patriots quarterback’s fight with the NFL as justification for upholding an arbitrator’s ruling that knocked down Wideman’s suspension from 20 games to just 10.
Citing a recent appeals court ruling against New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, the NHL Players Association said Bettman should not be allowed to restore a 20-game suspension of Calgary Flames defenseman Dennis Wideman for hitting a linesman, after an arbitrator cut the ban to 10 games.
… Citing the April 25 court ruling restoring Brady’s four-game suspension from the National Football League for deflating footballs, the union said federal courts have only “narrowly circumscribed” authority to review labor arbitration decisions.
“A federal court may not require perfection in arbitration awards,” the union said. “The court must simply ensure that the arbitrator was even arguably construing or applying the contract and acting within the scope of his authority and did not ignore the plain language of the contract. There can be no credible dispute that this was the case here.”
As we mentioned earlier this summer, this is a big fight.
The NHL is attempting to prove that Bettman’s decision was the right one, and show the players that while a neutral arbitrator was allegedly the last word on suspension appeals, there are still remedies for the League if one overturns a decision. The NHLPA is trying to limit the NHL’s power to appeal the appeal, and restore faith in the process laid out by the CBA.
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Greg Wyshynski is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Contact him at [email protected] or find him on Twitter. His book, TAKE YOUR EYE OFF THE PUCK, is available on Amazon and wherever books are sold.
