ST. PAUL, Minn. — Josh Manson knew why he was standing in front of a collection of assembled media Monday night.
The Colorado Avalanche had just defeated the Minnesota Wild in Game 4 of this second-round series to take a 3-1 series lead. It was Manson’s first game back after missing the past four because of injury.
But … that wasn’t why he was talking.
“Good,” Manson said when asked how he felt. “You can just get to the question you want to ask me.”
Manson was there to talk about his tussle with Minnesota’s Michael McCarron, which ended with him in the penalty box for one of the rarest infractions in the sport — a double-minor for butt ending. McCarron hit Manson along the boards in the first period and then fell on him.
As they were grappling on the ice, Manson caught McCarron with the butt end of his stick. McCarron rolled off the Avs defender and squirmed in discomfort.
“He hits me, but then he lands on me. I didn’t really like that, to be honest with you,” Manson said. “We’re in a scrum and I butt-ended him. Was it on purpose? Was that my intention? Absolutely not. My intention wasn’t to butt-end him. Did I want to punch him in the head? I did want to punch him in the head. I was trying to give him a smack because I didn’t like that he landed on me. I didn’t think that was fully necessary.
“I served my four-minute penalty. They looked at it. It wasn’t my intention to butt-end him in the face. It was more trying to smack him in the head. I just lost awareness of where the grip was.”
Manson’s butt-end brouhaha did wind up hitting him in the business end of his checking account. The Avs defender early Tuesday afternoon received a $5,000 fine from the NHL’s Department of Player Safety for his role in the incident, the maximum fine allowed under the league’s collective bargaining agreement.
No penalty called while the puck was still in play. After the four officials huddled, there was a review to see if a major penalty was committed. One of the linesman had to say he saw something during that huddle to initiate the review.
After the review, Manson was assessed the double minor for butt-ending. ESPN’s rules analyst Dave Jackson said during the television broadcast that the officials can assess a double minor for an attempted butt end, but the five-minute major and game misconduct only if there is clear video evidence that the player connected.
Minnesota scored on the second half of the power play to take a 1-0 lead in the game. The Avs were already missing Sam Malinski, who was out with an upper-body injury. Jack Ahcan also made his Stanley Cup Playoffs debut, replacing Nick Blankenburg as the No. 6 guy on the depth chart.
Losing Manson for the game could have been critical for the Avs.
“I’m not sure exactly what their options are when they make that call,” Avs coach Jared Bednar said. “To look at it, I was just hoping that it didn’t have to be a major because I didn’t think, like … he definitely hits him with his stick and a little undisciplined there. But it didn’t look to me like it was vicious enough to be a five-minute major and a game misconduct. So at that point, I was just kind of hoping for the best and that (Manson) would be able to stay in the game.
“I think they probably made the right call, and he was able to do that. They got the power play goal out of it, and we had to go to work and try to even the game up.”
McCarron called Manson a “dirty player” during a first intermission interview with ESPN’s P.K. Subban. Then doubled and tripled down after the game.
“I blew him up, and he grabs me and pulls me on top of him. He’s a dirty player,” McCarron said to Minnesota reporters. “He took his butt-end and clearly butt-ended me in the face. I don’t know how it’s not five minutes. I think the rule book says it’s a five-minute if you butt-end someone in the face.
“He’s a dirty player. He’s always been. Not very well-respected.”
Manson was a little more diplomatic when asked about McCarron’s accusations.
“That’s fine. If he wants to call me a dirty player, he can just look at my history,” Manson said. “It’s been 13 years and I haven’t been suspended yet. I’m not that dirty. I think there are other guys in the league that are doing more.
“Was that the cleanest play? No. Was it purposeful? No. It wasn’t purposeful either. I served my time. They scored on it. Benefited them. That’s his perspective.”
