Report: Federal judge's decision is extremely embarrassing for Gary Bettman.

The Dennis Wideman saga may have finally come to a conclusion this week, and it wasn't the result that Gary Bettman, the National Hockey League, and the NHL Officials' Union wanted to see.

TSN's Rick Westhead is reporting that a federal judge has ruled to uphold the reduced suspension of 10 games for Wideman's hit on linesman Don Henderson. The National Hockey League had initially handed down the maximum allowable suspension of 20 games, but a neutral arbitrator had reduced it upon reviewing the case.

The decision from the judge is particularly embarrassing for Bettman who made the decision to fire the neutral arbitrator on July 1st of 2016, likely as a result of his decision to reduce the suspension. This decision of course vindicates the original decision from the arbitrator, although it seems unlikely that it will result in him getting his job back.

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