[UPDATE: Hartman donating fans’ ‘fine fund’ to Minnesota children’s hospital]
Wild forward Ryan Hartman has been fined $4,250 by the NHL for “unsportsmanlike conduct” during an incident with Evander Kane of the Oilers Tuesday night.
The $4,250 is, of course, the maximum allowable under the Collective Bargaining Agreement. The “unsportsmanlike conduct” was directing a middle finger in Kane’s direction.
Hartman said afterward that if showing the bird to Kane cost him in the wallet, it would be “well worth it.”
With the Wild up 5-1 midway through the third period, it all kicked off with Mats Zuccarello taking exception to a bump by Kailer Yamamoto. Zuccarello responded by slashing the Oilers forward in the back of the leg. When Kirill Kaprizov skated over to engage Yamamoto, Kane made his way to the scene to push around the Wild forward. A big scrum ensued with Hartman repeatedly trying to get at Kane. The two eventually tied up, but couldn’t take part in a fight as the linesman was between them both.
Once they were separated and led to their respective penalty boxes, Hartman continued chirping at Kane and flashed his middle finger at him.
“It took all five guys and they couldn’t bring me down. It’s something,” Kane said. “I definitely would have liked to get loose, put it that way.”
Both were given roughing minors and 10-minute misconducts. Kane was assessed an additional minor for cross-checking.
“We don’t want [Kaprizov] in there,” Hartman said. “He gave Kirill a shot from behind in a very vulnerable spot. It goes to show, we had five guys in there. They didn’t have one guy in there to help [Kane]. I don’t think any of their guys are gonna defend them.”
This isn’t the first incident between Hartman and Kane. In 2019, Hartman was given a major and ejected from the game after slashing Kane, then of the Sharks, in the back of the leg.
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Sean Leahy is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @Sean_Leahy.