Red Wings’ Steve Yzerman & Todd McLellan end of season presser
Detroit Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman & coach Todd McLellan, April 29, 2025 in Detroit.
Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final turned out to be an expensive outing for former Detroit Red Wings defenseman Jake Walman.
The current Edmonton Oilers blueliner was fined by the NHL Player Safety department twice on Tuesday, June 10: The first was a $5,000 hit (the maximum allowable) for roughing Florida’s Matthew Tkachuk.
It’s the second $5,000 fine that will linger: It was for unsportsmanlike conduct — specifically, squirting water at an opponent while standing on his bench.
The water incident occurred late in the second period of the Oilers’ 6-1 loss, which left Walman’s squad down 2-1 in the best-of-seven series against the defending champion Florida Panthers.
Walman’s temper erupted after Panthers forward A.J. Greer swiped one of Walman’s gloves and threw it to the Florida bench. Walman stood up on the Oilers bench and squirted a water bottle, trying to hit Greer on the Florida bench.
Instead, the water ended up on video screens between the benches used for the TNT television broadcast, prompting analyst Brian Boucher to bang on the glass. The Panthers appeared to love it: Defenseman Seth Jones raised his hands in apparent mock confusion.
“Obviously, did that for a reason,” Walman told reporters afterward. “I won’t go into the details. It’s just gamesmanship, I guess, you know? Just got to realize there’s cameras everywhere that see that stuff.”
The beef between the teams spilled out onto the ice midway through the third, as they engaged in a line brawl — albeit with the goalies sitting it out — with 9:31 remaining in the game. Five players — two Panthers and three Oilers — received 10-minute misconduct penalties for the fracas.
A little over four minutes later, Walman received a double for roughing for going after Tkachuk.
He finished with six penalty minutes, while the Oilers took 85 penalty minutes to Florida’s 55.
Game 4 will be Thursday, June 12, also at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise, Florida.
Contact Helene St. James at hstjames@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @helenestjames.
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Her latest book, “The Franchise: Detroit Red Wings, A Curated History of the Red Wings,” was released October 2024. Her books, “On the Clock: Behind the Scenes with the Detroit Red Wings at the NHL Draft,” and “The Big 50: The Men and Moments that made the Detroit Red Wings” are available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Triumph Books. Personalized copies available via her e-mail.
