Minnesota Wild Veteran Ryan Hartman Given Match Penalty After Disgusting Act On Tim Stutzle
Ryan Hartman has always played hard in his NHL career, but on Saturday he took it too far with a disgusting act on Senators forward Tim Stutzle that could have resulted in a major injury for the young star.
The Minnesota Wild were absolutely dominated on Saturday night by the Ottawa Senators, and it appears as though the red-hot Canadian team were motivated by revenge for a big victory.
Early in the game during a faceoff, Tim Stutzle won the matchup against Hartman, and in quick retaliation, the Wild veteran was quick to shove the Senators stars head right into the ice in what appeared to be an intentionally dirty play that could have ended poorly.
On the ice, Hartman was given a well deserved match penalty, with fans taking to social media after the play to call on the NHL and the Department of Player Safety to suspend the veteran forward.
This isn't the first time we've seen dirty play from Hartman off a faceoff, as less than a year ago he was seen high sticking a Winnipeg Jets player, once again intentionally, and with previous infractions as well, this should almost certainly result in a multi-game suspension.
Given how inconsistent calls have been from the NHL's DoPS in recent times, it's absolutely unclear what will happen as a result of this play, but given the clear danger that Hartman put his opponent in, it was a disgusting move with clear intent.
Ultimately, while we all love hockey as a tough, physical game, there's simply no room for players putting their opponents in clear danger on the ice, and if Hartman keeps this up, there's absolutely no way he should be allowed to continue given the risk he's put his opponents in time after time.
