Wild’s Hartman ‘overwhelmed’ by donations in response to fine for unsportsmanlike conduct vs. Oilers’ Kane

Ryan Hartman was punished for giving Evander Kane the finger. Fans of the Minnesota Wild forward have responded by offering a helping hand.

Hartman, who was fined $4,250 for unsportsmanlike conduct for the gesture during Tuesday’s game against Kane and the Edmonton Oilers by the NHL’s department of player safety, took to Twitter yesterday to give thanks for the donations he has since received to help cover it.

“Wow … overwhelmed by the amount of donations I have received,” Hartman tweeted, before explaining how he would pay the fine himself, but donate any money he receives to Children’s Minnesota, a pediatric healthcare facility in Minneapolis. The tweet was up to 30,000 likes, and climbing.

Hartman and Kane clashed midway through the third period, when Hartman took exception with Kane going after Wild superstar Kirill Kaprizov, who was engaged in a scuffle with Edmonton’s Kailer Yamamoto.

Kane cross-checked Kaprizov in defence of Yamamoto, and multiple members of the Wild went after him, which resulted in a scrum.

Hartman attempted to pull Kane out of the crowd and engage in a fight, but the linesman would not allow the two players to drop the gloves. As they were separated, Hartman gave Kane the middle finger and the linesmen escorted both players off the ice.