By now everyone has likely seen the high-stick to the face Cole Perfetti took on Sunday as he and Ryan Hartman faced off in St. Paul in the 1st period. If you haven’t here it is:
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
No penalty was assessed and the Jets forward left the ice to get patched up.
Winnipeg would go on to win the game 3-2.
We found out during morning skate that Hartman would be fined $4,427.08 for the incident.
Cole Perfetti was speaking to us after they had concluded getting ready for the Lightning at Canada Life and Mike McIntyre of the Winnipeg Free Press asked him if it was true he had been mic’d up.
Cole Perfetti after Jets morning skate tells us he’s was mic’d up for the game against the Wild and Ryan Hartman admitted the stick to the face was intentional.
The proverbial smoking gun.
Full media here: https://t.co/0RBV4mZ4gN pic.twitter.com/GWxULx1ia4
— Dave Minuk (@ICdave) January 2, 2024
Evidently Hartman later in the game admitted that the high-stick was retribution for what happened to Kirill Kaprizov the day before.
Cole Perfetti after Jets morning skate tells us he’s was mic’d up for the game against the Wild and Ryan Hartman admitted the stick to the face was intentional.
The proverbial smoking gun.
Full media here: https://t.co/0RBV4mZ4gN pic.twitter.com/GWxULx1ia4
— Dave Minuk (@ICdave) January 2, 2024
Worth noting that Perfetti didn’t volunteer this information about being mic’d up to us this morning. He was asked a direct question as you can hear above and he was honest in his response. In fact Jets head coach Rick Bowness said they didn’t find out about it until after the game and that things could have looked differently.
Here is his full detailing of the conversation between him and Hartman on Sunday:
For folks who are wondering why Hartman only got a fine it is because, as per Jeff Marek of Sportsnet, the CBA doesn’t allow mic’d up audio to be used in disciplinary proceedings,
While some folks are expecting fireworks on February 20th when these two teams meet again I’m inclined to believe the NHL will be alerting both clubs to severe penalties if there are any shenanigans.
