NHL gets rid of “neutral arbitrator” after he rules against them.

There's probably no way the National Hockey League is going to be able to spin this story in to a positive.

According to a report from Liz Mullen of Sports Business Daily the league has made the decision to dismiss James Oldham, the neutral arbitrator who made the decision to reduce the 20 game suspension handed down to Dennis Wideman after he collided with an official to just 10 games.

Obviously Oldham ruled against the NHL in this case, and since he is hired by the league and is effectively a league employee in this regard, the league also has the power to terminate his employment, which is exactly what they did.

There's no doubt that the decision to fire a neutral arbitrator that both the NHL and NHLPA agreed to, coming off the heels of just a single decision that went against the league, looks like an extremely petty decision from the NHL.

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