VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Oct. 25 (UPI) -- Vancouver Canucks forward Rick Rypien said Monday he was sorry for grabbing a Minnesota Wild fan last week.
Rypien reached into the stands at the Xcel Energy Center and grabbed the fan as he was leaving the ice following a game misconduct penalty in Vancouver's Oct. 19 loss to the Wild.
The incident, as well as his conduct on the ice before the misconduct, earned him a six-game suspension without pay and a $25,000 fine from the NHL.
"Obviously, I want to apologize to the league for what happened ... and also the coaching staff and the whole Canucks organization and to my teammates," Rypien said in his apology. "I'd like to thank them for their support."
"I play the game with more emotion at times than others, but I think that was out of my character to do something like that. Obviously it was stupid, what I did, and if I could have taken that moment back I would have taken it back."
Published reports indicated NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman called the 28-year-old fan involved in the incident to apologize for Rypien's behavior, and offered dinner and tickets to a game.
