The NHL's Department of Player Safety reported on April 1st that Minnesota Wild forward Ryan Hartman has been suspended for three games, without pay, for bad behavior during his team's March 30th game against the Vegas Golden Knights.
The decision was made a few hours after Hartman had a phone hearing for what the NHL considered unacceptable behavior. As per the league's video announcement, Hartman got a 10-minute misconduct penalty during overtime for throwing his stick at officials and verbally insulting them.
Hartman will miss the rest of the Wild’s homestand against the Ottawa Senators, Colorado Avalanche and Winnipeg Jets. He will be able to play again on April 7th against the Chicago Blackhawks.
Hartman’s Suspension Stems from ‘Unacceptable’ & ‘Unprofessional’ Actions
According to the official game summary from the Wild’s overtime loss to the Golden Knights, Hartman was penalized for abusive language. After Vegas winger Jonathan Marchessault scored a goal with 90 seconds left in overtime, Hartman started walking towards the Wild dressing room, but then came back to the bench and threw his stick across the ice towards an official.
The NHL could have automatically suspended Hartman three games at the time the incident occurred under Rule 40.4, Category III of the league’s official rulebook, which includes throwing a stick at an official. However, the league chose to give Hartman a phone hearing before making a decision.
The NHL believed Hartman’s argument that he wasn’t trying to hit or hurt anyone with his stick, but Hartman admits his actions were unprofessional, unacceptable, and won't be tolerated, the league said in a video announcement.
Here is the Ryan Hartman suspension video by @NHLPlayerSafety pic.twitter.com/88EI2sKEpH
— Michael Russo (@RussoHockey) April 1, 2024
The NHL also took into account Hartman’s hearing and his past record of disciplinary issues when making the decision.
Hartman Has a Long Rap Sheet of Disciplinary Issues
This is the fourth suspension of Hartman’s 10-year NHL career and the third in the past 14 months. Since his debut in 2015, he has also been fined seven times, most recently in January after he high-sticked Jets center Cole Perfetti off a face-off. The incident sparked a weeklong controversy in which Perfetti accused Hartman of saying he high-sticked him intentionally as payback for Jets defenseman Brenden Dillon injuring Wild winger Kirill Kaprizov a day earlier; Hartman denied doing so.
Hartman is considered a repeat offender, according to the NHL’s Collective Bargaining Agreement as a player who has been suspended within the last two years. He was last suspended two games on Nov. 26th for tripping Detroit Red Wings Alex DeBrincat forward . Before that, he received aone-game suspension last April for an interference penalty on Winnipeg’s Nikolaj Ehlers Under the Collective Bargaining Agreement, repeat offenders lose salary based on number of games in a season (82) versus days. With his.
$1.7 million annual salary , Hartman will lose $62,195.13 for this suspension, He has now has lost nearly $104,000 in salary this season due to his two suspensions, with all money going to the Players’ Emergency Assistance Fund.Ryan Hartman got suspended for three games because of unsportsmanlike behavior during the Wild’s loss to the Vegas Golden Knights on March 30.
