Calgary Flames’ defenceman Dennis Wideman had his 20-game NHL suspension cut in half by an arbitrator on March 11, but the problem is he had already served 19 of them. Wideman hit linesman Don Henderson from behind during a game against the Nashville Predators on January 27th and sent his defenseless victim crashing to the ice. Video replay convinced most viewers that Wideman’s act of violence was deliberate and the NHL handed him a 20-game ban for his actions.

However, Wideman appealed the ban, but NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman upheld it. Since then, the independent arbitrator named James Oldham heard the case and felt the suspension should be reduced. The problem of course, is that by the time the case was ruled on by the arbitrator, Wideman had just one game left to serve. This would have caused a huge problem if the suspended player belonged to a team that was involved in a playoff race. Unfortunately for the Flames, they’re not going to make the postseason, but Wideman missed games in which 38 points were available to the club.

Winger Jaromir Jagr of the Florida Panthers has tied NHL legend Gordie Howe in third place on the league’s all-time scoring list. Jagr of Kladno in the Czech Republic, is currently the oldest player in the NHL at 44 years of age, and tied Howe’s mark of 1,850 points. Jagr got the historic point by earning an assist on a goal by Erik Gudbranson on March 3rd in a game against the Colorado Avalanche. Jagr is now taking aim at second place on the list which is currently occupied by Mark Messier at 1,887 points.

However, with just 17 games to go in the 2015/16 regular season it’s highly doubtful Jagr will reach Messier’s total this campaign. Jagr should have no problem moving into second place on the all-time list of he returns to the NHL for another season though in 2016/17. It’s going to be almost impossible for Jagr to reach first place on the list though as it’s held by Wayne Gretzky with 2,857 points. In fact, Gretzky’s mark may never be broken, especially in today’s era of relatively low-scoring hockey.

Galatasaray, the reigning soccer champions of Turkey, have been booted out of European competition for a year after breaking UEFA’s complicated Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules. The regulations were introduced a few years ago to stop clubs from spending beyond their means. According to the chairman of the club, it has lost approximately $177.79 million (164 million euros) during the past three seasons. UEFA announced the ban early in March and stated that Galatasaray hasn’t obeyed the rules regarding the allowed amount of financial losses.

UEFA introduced the set of rules back in 2011 and they’re supposed to stop clubs from spending more money than they make. The rules are also supposed to prevent mega-rich owners from diverting unlimited money into their teams by buying up expensive players and trying to buy championships. However, the rules are very complex and most fans and apparently clubs too, don’t fully understand them. Still Galatasaray may be thankful for the year-long ban suspension since the club was fully expecting to be hit with a two-year suspension.

There’s nothing Barcelona soccer fans like more than seeing their soccer team one-upping their arch rivals Real Madrid. This meant they celebrated on Thursday, March 3rd when Barcelona set a new national record of going 35 games without a loss in all competitions. The old mark of 34 was held by Real Madrid. Barcelona set the new record with a 5-1 away victory over Rayo Vallecano in a Spanish La Liga match for the team’s 10th victory in a row. Fans are now calling this year’s squad the best ever in Barcelona’s long and storied history. Argentine international striker Lionel Messi led the way in the record-setting fixture by scoring a hat-trick while Arda Turan and Ivan Rakitic netted the other goals.