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Ryan Hartman and Cole Perfetti drama takes fresh turn, Wild forward denies accusations while claiming Jets star baited him
The drama between Minnesota Wild forward Ryan Hartman and Winnipeg Jets forward Cole Perfetti has taken a fresh twist. Earlier this week, Perfetti's microphone allegedly caught Hartman admitting to intentionally high-sticking him during a game.
However, Hartman vehemently denied the accusations, shedding light on a different perspective in an exclusive interview with Michael Russo of The Athletic:
"It's written on the wall that he’s wearing a mic. I know he's wearing a mic all game. He comes up to me multiple times and asks me if I did it on purpose. And finally, all I told him was, 'I’m not gonna say it wasn’t on purpose.'"
"So I didn’t tell him, 'Hey, I did that on purpose.' He kept coming up to me, and I finally said, 'I’m not gonna say it wasn’t on purpose.' That was the extent of it."
In response to Perfetti's accusations, Hartman expressed surprise that on-ice conversations were being brought into the public domain:
“If everything that was said on the ice was released to the media, there’d be a lot of people in this league in trouble. I don’t know, I guess we’re in a different day and age where kids talk to people about what’s said on the ice. You’d think things would stay on the ice.”
Hartman also revealed that the Wild declined permission for the Jets to share a clip of the exchange on social media. They possibly did this to prevent the altercation from escalating further.
Background of Ryan Hartman and Cole Perfetti incident
The drama unfolded during a two-game series between the Wild and Jets over the New Year's Eve weekend, marked by intense moments and controversial incidents.
The tension escalated with a cross-check by Jets defenseman Brenden Dillon on Wild star Kirill Kaprizov. This led to an injury and subsequent IR placement for Kaprizov. The series also saw Jets captain Adam Lowry fight with Wild tough guy Pat Maroon.
While briefing on the high-sticking incident, Perfetti accused Hartman of saying,
"He said it in kind of a respectful way. 'No disrespect, nothing against you. It had to happen for what happened to Kaprizov there.'"
As the two border rivals prepare for their next clash on February 20 in Winnipeg, Ryan Hartman remains unfazed by potential backlash from Jets fans.
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