DALLAS — Ryan Hartman was already a fan favorite across State of Hockey, but the Wild’s first-line center’s popularity reached new heights on Tuesday night when he jumped in defense of star linemate Kirill Kaprizov and then pointed a middle finger at the player , who started it with Kaprizov – one of the NHL’s most polarizing figures, Evander Kane of the Edmonton Oilers.
The league made Hartman pay the whistler for the gesture Wednesday and fined him $4,250 — something Hartman expected and said it would be “worth it” after winning in Minnesota’s 5-1 win over the Oilers had scored two goals.
Now, Wild fans and fans across the NHL are rallying behind Hartman and stepping in to help pay off the debt and probably some more.
Wild fan Allie Cook discovered Hartman’s Venmo account around 11 a.m. and tweeted it. By 5 p.m. Central, more than 400 fans had publicly deposited money into Hartman’s middle finger fund, or as many fans called it, the “bird fund.”
Cook started at 11:05 a.m. with a note that read, “$10 off, $4,240 left,” followed by a middle finger emoji.
“I just saw a few people joking about starting GoFundMe to pay his fine, but I figured everyone uses Venmo so I decided to hit him up on a whim,” Cook told The Athletic with a laugh . “It definitely started as a joke, otherwise I would have sent more than $10.