Following a vicious knockout of Washington’s Patrick Wey during Sunday’s 4-3 shootout win, Preds tough guy Rich Clune discussed the series of events that led to the fight -- and the aftermath.
“I reached out to the kid on Washington just to express the fact that I hope he’s OK and it wasn’t my intention to hurt him,” said Clune, per the Tennessean. “He was the one kind of engaging me, and I had no idea who he was. I don’t even look at the other team’s roster before the game.
“I just see the names they write on the board. The kid said he was OK.”
Here’s the fight:
Clune’s response came after Washington voiced displeasure with how the scrap went down. Head coach Adam Oates and forward Troy Brouwer both remarked that Clune shouldn’t have gone after a fighter as inexperienced as Wey -- he had one prior career tilt, back in his junior days -- and Tom Wilson was upset Clune didn’t engage him in a subsequent fight.
Clune said he didn’t want to fight Wilson because the Preds had a lead and he didn’t want to risk taking a penalty, but understands why Wilson, Oates and Brouwer reacted they way they did.
“I can understand the Washington organization and the Washington fans being mad, but there’s not much more I can say other than we’ll see each other at another date,” Clune said. “Patrick is going to bounce back.”