{"id":389655,"date":"2026-01-04T05:12:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-04T05:12:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/389655\/"},"modified":"2026-01-04T05:12:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-04T05:12:10","slug":"ex-red-wings-vrana-attacks-viro-in-shl-game-dhn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/389655\/","title":{"rendered":"Ex-Red Wings Vrana Attacks Viro in SHL Game \/ DHN"},"content":{"rendered":"

During the 2022-23 AHL season, former Detroit<\/a> Red Wings forward Jakub Vrana<\/a> and defenseman and Red Wings draftee Eemil Viro<\/a> were briefly teammates with the Grand Rapids Griffins.<\/p>\n

Evidently, there wasn\u2019t enough time for them to develop a bond of friendship.<\/p>\n

During an SHL game on Saturday, Vrana<\/a> of Link\u00f6ping ultimately earned a match penalty from an incident in which he first slashed Viro and then followed up by breaking his stick across the back of the Malm\u00f6 player.<\/p>\n

Skating up behind Viro in the neutral zone, Vrana hacked him to the ice with a slash. After Viro rose to his feet, Vrana delivered a cross-check to the Finnish defenseman\u2019s back, snapping his stick in the process.<\/p>\n

Jakub Vr\u00e1na a jeho dne\u0161n\u00ed b\u011bsn\u011bn\u00ed! \ud83c\udde8\ud83c\uddff<\/p>\n

Podle n\u011bho hr\u00e1\u010d Malm\u00f6 simuloval, tak mu dal kros\u010dek, za kter\u00fd dostal 2 minuty a k tomu 2 minuty za nesportovn\u00ed chov\u00e1n\u00ed. Malm\u00f6 vyu\u017eilo p\u0159esilovku a hned jak Vr\u00e1na vyjel z trestn\u00e9 lavice \u0161el diskutovat s rozhod\u010d\u00edm a dostal trest do konce\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/0GNfcNsFRv<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Vojt\u011bch T\u016fma (@vojtechtuma7) January 3, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cIt was lucky for me that his stick broke when he did the cross-check, so it probably did a lot less damage than it could have,\u201d Viro told Swedish website Expressen<\/a>. \u201cI understand that you lose your temper sometimes. My focus was to stay calm.\u201d<\/p>\n

Vrana charged after the retreating Viro, dropping his gloves and challenging him to fight. Officials intervened and assessed a double-minor penalty to Vrana.<\/p>\n

#RedWings<\/a> did not qualify RFAs Gage Alexander and Cross Hanas.<\/p>\n

Gave a QO to Elmber Soderblom and Eemil Viro. #LGRW<\/a> @PuckPedia<\/a> https:\/\/t.co\/YIiMospSTb<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 NHL News (@PuckReportNHL) July 1, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n

Viro was drafted 70th overall by Detroit in 2020. Even though he signed with Malm\u00f6 in the summer as a free agent, the Red Wings retain Viro\u2019s NHL rights.<\/p>\n

Former Red Wings Player Goes After Officials<\/p>\n

Already leading 4-0, Malm\u00f6 added a power-play goal with Vrana off. When he exited the penalty box, Vrana went after the official and was assessed a minor, a misconduct, and ultimately, a match penalty.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have to control my emotions,\u201d Vrana said, before quickly turning the discussion around to questioning the work of the referees.<\/p>\n

\u201cUltimately, it\u2019s a man\u2019s sport, I think we should be able to discuss everything with the officials. They are human too, they make mistakes sometimes, and that\u2019s okay.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf he didn\u2019t like what I said to him, he could have said something back. I would have calmed down and apologized then. Obviously, I hurt his feelings, and I apologize for that.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m mostly angry about letting my team down. It\u2019s not right.\u201d<\/p>\n

Link\u00f6ping coach Mikael Hakansson didn\u2019t appear to be interested in hearing an after-the-fact apology from his petulant star player.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe has to keep his cool,\u201d Hakansson said. \u201cHe shouldn\u2019t act like that. It\u2019s that simple. It\u2019s not okay.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes it gets ugly. But you shouldn\u2019t act like that.\u201d<\/p>\n

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