Minnesota Wild’s Ryan Hartman isn’t taking his latest suspension lying down.
The forward is fighting back against the NHL’s hefty 10-game ban, with the Players’ Association filing an appeal on his behalf just before Wednesday’s deadline.
It’s going to cost him big – we’re talking about $487,000 in lost salary. That’s what happens when you’re labeled a “repeat offender” in the NHL.
The incident that started it all? A nasty play during Saturday’s game against Ottawa, where Hartman drove Tim Stutzle face-first into the ice right after a faceoff. The refs tossed him immediately with a match penalty.
This isn’t Hartman’s first rodeo with the league’s disciplinary office – it’s actually his fifth suspension.
Here’s where it gets interesting: While Hartman has to sit out during the appeal process, the timing might actually work in his favor. With the NHL’s 4 Nations Face-Off break coming up, his case could be heard when he’s only three games into the suspension.
First stop is NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman’s desk. He’ll need to decide if there was “clear and convincing evidence” to support such a long suspension.
But that might not be the end of it. If Bettman keeps the suspension at six games or more, Hartman can take it one step further – to a neutral arbitrator for a final decision.
Most players who appeal are really just hoping to get some of their lost money back, since these cases usually take longer than the actual suspension to resolve. But with the upcoming break, Hartman might actually have a shot at getting back on the ice sooner.
