Things got heated on a Sportsnet special dressing room-themed segment last night as a panel discussed the controversial incident between Ryan Hartman of the Minnesota Wild and Cole Perfetti of the Winnipeg Jets.
During the game, Kirill Kaprizov was cross-checked by the Jets’ Brendan Dillon. Kaprizov was injured by the cross-check, and when the teams played again the next day, on Sunday, Ryan Hartman got his revenge with a high stick on the face of Cole Perfetti.
According to Perfetti, Hartman admitted during the game that it was a straight-out retaliation for the cross-check on Kaprizov.
“He said, ‘No disrespect, nothing against you, it had to happen, something had to happen for what happened to Kaprizov,'” Perfetti said on Tuesday.
“Kind of a weird thing to come out and admit it. He blatantly said it was for what happened, even though I didn’t even do anything in the play. I had nothing to do with it.”
When they discussed it on Sportsnet, things got heated between former NHLer Jamal Mayers and former Canadian women’s hockey star and analyst Jennifer Botterill.
Mayers thought that Hartman’s play was all about sending a message to the opposing team and didn’t see anything wrong with it.
“To me, Ryan Hartman is sending a message that you’re not going to go after our star player. And whether you like it or not, it becomes a question of how I’m going to defend myself, and it’s not about fighting you,” he said.
“Some people will say that Hartman should go fight him, right? I think he sent the right message. The fact that everybody knows that he said he was going to do it or not. I’m sorry. I know the game has changed, but there’s still an element of fear. There’s still an element of being aggressive and sending a message. These two teams could also meet in the playoffs,” he added.
But Jennifer Botterill didn’t agree with him. She indicated that there’s better stuff to do than retaliating and getting revenge.
“Both of the terms you guys use, revenge and sending a message, I don’t know; you watch the play, and you see Cole Perfetti, a young, great player in your league. Do you think that’s what you want to present or succumb to your young, talented players too?” she said. “I don’t know. I don’t think that’s what’s selling your game to your biggest stars. Your skilled players just don’t care if you’re a young player coming up. Be ready because this could happen to you at any point. And you’re okay with that? If it’s your son out there playing and he takes that two-handed to the face, oh, you know, what a good message to send,” Botterill added.
On social media, Jamal Mayers has been slammed for his statements about the incident, with many agreeing with Botterill.
“Bad take by Jamal. Deliberately high-sticking some guy in the face in the faceoff circle is NOT part of the game,” one user said on Reddit.
“Jamal Mayers is a dumb a**, and Botterill fed him his lunch,” another said.
“Becoming a bigger and bigger fan of Botterill by the day,” a third added.
“Thank god Botterill actually gave it to him there, absolutely smooth brain take to not oppose lol,” a fourth added.
What’s your take on this?
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