Detroit Red Wings

Simon Confirms Altercation With Red Wings Hronek; Shoulders Responsibility For Incident

Anaheim Ducks forward Dominik Simon is taking the blame for a fight with Czechia teammate Filip Hronek of the Detroit Red Wings at the World Championship in Finland

Published

2 years ago

May 19, 2022

Bob Duff

Red Wings defenseman Filip Hronek was in a scrap with Czechia teammate Dominik Simon at the world tourney.

Yes, Detroit Red Wings defenseman Filip Hronek did indeed get into a fight with a Czechia teammate at the IIHF World Championship in Finland. No, it wasn’t his fault.

So says Anaheim Ducks forward Dominik Simon, the other party involved in the altercation. Through a statement released by his family to Czech website iDnes.cz, Simon accepted full responsibility for the dust up with Hronek. The end result of the incident saw Simon leaving the Czech team and returning home.

“Dominik left the world championship after two matches in the national team after a demanding season due to personal and family reasons,” read the statement. “He brought nerves and emotions from the ice and personal life out of the ice when he tried to provoke a fight with a teammate.”

REPORT

We were told #FlyTogether Dominik Simon left the 🇨🇿 team for 'personal reasons'

Miroslav Horák, a sports expert at https://t.co/FwaX0O5FN4, reports that Simon got into a physical altercation with teammate #LGRW Filip Hronek. #IIHFWorlds

— Hockey News Hub (@HockeyNewsHub) May 18, 2022

Simon is currently without a contract for next season, leaving his hockey future uncertain.

“Even though it was nothing personal, unfortunately there was also physical contact,” the statement continued. “This year’s season was very challenging from the player’s point of view after the last one, which was shortened due to (COVID-19).

“That is why Dominik agreed for personal reasons with the staff of the Czech national team to leave the championship. As a team player, Dominik is very sorry and apologizes to the team and the management. Now he is at home, where he rests.”

Oddly enough, both Filip Hronek and Simon get representation from the same agent, Michal Sivek.

Difficult Tournament for Hronek, Czechia

In 2019, Hronek was named the tournament all-star team and was voted the best defenseman of the IIHF World Championship. His latest world tourney appearance isn’t going anywhwere near as well.

Czechia is 1-1-1 and losers of an international hockey game to Austria for the first time since 1930. The medal round is not a certainty.

Amidst all this chaos and uncertainty, head coach Kari Jalonen is desperately looking to put the Simon-Hronek scrap in the rear-view mirror.

“In this regard, we ask you and the media to respect our decision not to comment further on the matter,” Jalonen told iSport.cz. “We understand the viewing of the World Cup and the effort to be as informed as possible towards our fans. But everything has its limits. Thank you for your understanding.”