Predators' enforcer Rich Clune 'reached out' to Patrick Wey after injurious fight

Rich Clune of the Nashville Predators and Patrick Wey of the Washington Capitals went toe-to-toe in quite a tilt on March 30th, resulting in a head injury suffered by the latter.

Wey, a rookie defenseman, had only engaged in one fight at the amateur level USHL.) once before, while Clune has dropped the gloves no fewer than 32 times in the NHL. As such, the Predators enforcer drew a measure of criticism for engaging with Wey, prompting him to reach out to the 23-year-old.

"I reached out to the kid on Washington just to express the fact that I hope he's OK and it wasn't my intention to hurt him," said Clune, via The Tennessean. "He was the one kind of engaging me, and I had no idea who he was. I don't even look at the other team's roster before the game. I just see the names they write on the board. The kid said he was OK."

Clune added the decision to fight was mutual: "He stepped up on me. I didn't have the puck. He finished his check and kind of whacked my head off the boards. He was yelling at me and kind of signaled me. I took a half-step to get away and around him. He was pretty vocal and wanted me to turn around. We looked each other in the eye and agreed that we were going to fight, and went at it."

Wey did not play Tuesday against the Dallas Stars, and is considered day-to-day with a head injury.