Detroit Red Wings
Former NHLer Accuses Red Wings Raymond of Embellishment
Kapanen suggests Detroit player sought to increase blood flow
Former NHLer Sami Kapanen is accusing Detroit Red Wings forward Lucas Raymond of trying some of that wrestling stuff. Working the broadcast of the Finland-Sweden game at the IIHF World Championship, Kapanen was suggesting that Raymond was appropriating an old pro wrestling trick of trying to make a minor cut bleed more so he could draw a major penalty on the Finns.
Finnish media is describing Raymond’s actions as a scandalous trick.
— daily lucas raymond (@dailyraymond23) May 12, 2025
“I have to say that Raymond worked hard to get that expulsion,” Kapanen proclaimed while broadcasting the game for Finland’s MTV. He puts the towel in his mouth, under his lip and gets the blood out of there.”
There’s no doubt that the stick of Finland’s Walter Merela was clipping Raymond in the mouth. Likewise, there’s no question that the stick ended up cutting him.
It’s the seriousness of the cut that Kapanen is claiming Raymond sought to make worse than it actually was.
Red Wings Raymond Taken Aback By Accusation
Raymond was flabbergasted when informed of Kapanen’s accusation.
“I don’t know what to say,” Raymond told Swedish website Expressen. “If it bleeds, it bleeds. I can’t control what it looks like in my mouth after I get a lollipop (a cut in the mouth).”
Merela was assessed a double minor. Raymond was trying to ascertain what all the fuss is about.
“It feels pretty irrelevant, actually,” Raymond said. “It’s okay. You get lollipops . . . a hit on the tooth. I started bleeding. Not the end of the world.”
Raymond added that he hadn’t lost any teeth from the encounter with Merela’s stick.
@br_openice Nikita Zadorov didn’t hold back on his feelings towards Lucas Raymond 😳 (via ConorRyan_93/X, @NESN) #hockey #hockeytok #hockeyplayer #nhl
This isn’t the first time that someone has been accusing the Detroit winger of embellishment. During a game at Boston this season, Bruins defenseman Nikita Zadorov was calling out Raymond for overacting after slashing the Detroit player.
“It’s a man’s league,” Zadorov said at the time. “We all get slashed. We’re all in pain. But you don’t [shake your hand] and show the referee that you get slashed. So I think it’s just a little bit disrespectful, so I went after him.
“You don’t sell penalties.”
