Sometimes, the best part of sports is the pettiness that we get to witness on a public scale.
After flipping off Evander Kane during a scrum on the ice Tuesday night, Minnesota Wild forward Ryan Hartman wasn fined $4,250 by the NHL for unsportsmanlike conduct after Kane cross-checked Kirill Kaprizov. At one point, Kane was fighting off five opposing players as the refs got in the middle of the skirmish.
Kane has been in his fair share of off-the-ice trouble throughout his NHL career. Earlier this season, the Oilers left wing was suspended by the NHL for 21 games for falsifying a COVID vaccination card and breaking protocols. He’s been investigated for gambling on his own league and throwing games, and got sued by a Vegas casino for walking out on a half million dollars worth of debt. In 2016, five different people accused him of assault, and just last year, as he and his ex-wife were in the midst of a divorce, they both filed restraining orders against each other on the grounds of domestic abuse. (There’s a more detailed background on all his legal troubles in this August 2021 article).
Anyways, back to the pettiness. Anna Kane, the aforementioned ex-wife, came into the picture yesterday after Hartman’s altercation with Kane on the ice, in which he can be seen yelling “fuck you” at Kane. Anna posted an Instagram story today with a screenshot of a Venmo payment to Hartman, sending him $200 to help pay off the unsportsmanlike conduct fine.
Hartman said that the fine was “well worth it,” and added, “”It goes to show we have five guys in there, they didn’t have one guy in there to help him. I don’t think any of their guys are going to defend him.” Kane has been in Edmonton since late January after his contract was terminated by the San Jose Sharks.
Anna wasn’t the only one to send some help Hartman’s way — screenshots are floating around Twitter showing Hartman’s Venmo page overflowing with donations from fans, many of whom are using the middle finger emoji as the payment description.
Hartman gained some admirers with his move — let’s just say Kane isn’t the most universally beloved NHLer around.