Defenseman for the Calgary Flames, Dennis Wideman, was suspended indefinitely after checking a linesman Wednesday night.

During the second half of his game against the Nashville Predators, Wideman took a hit from Miikka Salomaki, winger for the Predators. Wideman was returning to his team’s bench when he cross-checked linesman Don Henderson. The strike sent Henderson against the boards and down to the ice, while Wideman continued to skate to his team.

Wideman later explained that he hadn’t been paying attention, and hit Henderson unintentionally.

“I took a pretty good hit down in the corner and had some pretty good pain in my shoulder and neck,” Wideman said in an interview with ESPN. “I was just trying to get off the ice and kind of keeled over. At the last second, I looked up and saw [Henderson] and couldn’t avoid it…I think I’ve treated every official with the utmost respect, and I would never intentionally try to hit a linesman or a ref. It was completely unintentional, and I already apologized to him.”

Although Wideman was not penalized at the time, on Thursday the NHL said it was looking into the incident.

Wideman will have a hearing with the NHL’s Hockey Operations Department on Wednesday. If the league decides that Wideman’s check was intentional, he will be suspended for at least 20 games.