Hartman denies Perfetti's claim of admitting to intentional high stick
Minnesota Wild forward Ryan Hartman denied Cole Perfetti's claim that he admitted to intentionally high-sticking the Winnipeg Jets youngster in the face during a New Year's Eve clash between the Central Division rivals.
Perfetti said Hartman told him he high-sticked him in retaliation to Jets defenseman Brenden Dillon injuring Wild star Kirill Kaprizov with a series of cross-checks the night prior. Perfetti said the interaction with Hartman was caught on the mic Perfetti was wearing.
Cole Perfetti back on the ice for the Jets after taking a high stick to the face by Ryan Hartman off the faceoff during his first shift. pic.twitter.com/LgD6wmMtwo
- Dave Minuk (@ICdave) December 31, 2023
The Jets and Wild both had access to the audio from Perfetti's mic, but the NHLPA said it can't be released, according to The Athletic's Michael Russo.
Hartman shared his side of the story with Russo.
"It's written on the wall that he's wearing a mic," Hartman said. "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.' ... That was the extent of it."
Hartman added that he didn't appreciate Perfetti going public with his claim.
"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," he said. "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."
He added: "I talked to multiple Jets players during the third period, and he told everyone. He's acting like, 'I didn't say anything. They made me tell them.' He f-----g told everyone right away. And then to bring it up into the media, whatever. I'm not going to apologize for high-sticking him. I didn't see Dillon apologize for cross-checking Kirill."
Hartman was fined for the high stick, and Perfetti returned to the game after getting stitches. Hartman has been fined seven times and served three suspensions in his career, including a one-game ban for a hit that injured Jets forward Nikolaj Ehlers last season.
The Wild and Jets renew hostilities on Feb. 20 in Winnipeg.
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