Minnesota Wild forward Ryan Hartman has been suspended for 10 games for roughing Ottawa Senators forward Tim Stutzle, the NHL department of player safety announced on Monday night.
Hartman on Sunday was offered an in-person hearing after driving Stutzle’s head into the ice during Saturday night’s game between the two clubs.
An in-person hearing is offered to players for an infraction that might require a suspension of six or more games. Players who are suspended at least six games are eligible to appeal to a neutral arbitrator following an initial appeal to NHL commissioner Gary Bettman.
With 16 seconds left in the second period and Ottawa leading 3-0, Hartman and Stutzle took a faceoff. Hartman locked up Stutzle’s stick with his leg, placed his right elbow on the back of Stutzle’s neck and drove the Ottawa player’s head into the ice. Stutzle’s helmet came off on impact, and he skated to the Senators bench with a bloody cut over his left eye.
In the NHL’s video, in announcing the discipline and describing the sequence, it said “it is important to note that this is not a hockey play. … With Stutzle bent low, and focused on winning the draw, Hartman chooses to take advantage of a vulnerable player in an unacceptable fashion.”
