Hartman comments on being a healthy scratch: 'Message received'

Minnesota Wild head coach Dean Evason has made it clear that no one is safe from being taken out of the lineup. Evason scratched a healthy Matt Dumba for two straight games, and now he's pulling Ryan Hartman from the lineup. Hartman said Thursday he knows why.

"Message received," said Hartman. "The meeting with Dean was short. Told him I'd probably do the same thing in this situation. I understand."

"I felt like I let my team down," he said.

Hartman is known for a physical game, but that style brings a risk of penalties. In Tuesday's 4-2 loss to Tampa Bay, Hartman took a hooking penalty late in the game. While the Bolts didn't score, it ate up valuable time that the Wild needed to try and get to overtime. Hartman has been taking a few too many penalties lately for Evason's liking. As for Hartman being hard on himself, Evason said he doesn't care.


"He should be hard on himself," Evason said. "It's stupid. Absolutely stupid."

"When I spoke to him this morning, he understands exactly what's going on. It's clear," he added."