Florida's Mike Hoffman says he tried hard to get former teammate Erik Karlsson to drop the gloves when the two met for the first time as opponents Sunday when the Panthers took on the San Jose Sharks. Hoffman claims Karlsson didn't want any part of it.
"I asked if he wanted to go and obviously he did not," Hoffman told The Athletic. "I chased him around for an entire shift, kept asking and asking. He wouldn't. He kept saying 'I'm not fighting you.'"
Hoffman and Karlsson were teammates in Ottawa when Karlsson and his wife filed an order of protection in an Ottawa court against Hoffman's then-girlfriend, alleging harassment and cyberbullying. This was back in 2018. The case was eventually dismissed and both were traded out of Ottawa. Sunday's meeting was the first time since that they've met on the ice on opposite teams.
"I have been thinking about this game for a long time," Hoffman said, according to The Athletic's George Richards. "It is a part of hockey."
Hoffman grabbed Karlsson early in the game and made the challenge, but nothing came out of it.
Neither Hoffman nor Karlsson have taken part in any fights in their careers according to HockeyFights.com.
Their two teams meet again in San Jose on February 17th so perhaps Hoffman will give it another try.
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