HOFFMAN SPEAKS OUT
‘You don’t wish this on anyone’
Mike Hoffman and Monika Caryk wanted to clear the air Friday.
They both deny that either of them had anything to do with the cyberbullying of Melinda Karlsson, wife of Ottawa Senators captain Erik Karlsson.
Speaking in an exclusive interview from their home in Kitchener on Friday afternoon, Hoffman and Caryk, his fiancée, say they’re distraught over what happened to the Karlssons and they want to help find the person responsible.
Caryk has hired Toronto lawyer Sheila Block of Torys LLP to reach out to Erik Karlsson’s representatives and the Senators to conduct a third-party investigation. They are adamant that they have nothing to hide.
“It’s been a really hard week, to be honest, Caryk said. “We both feel terrible for them that they have go through something like this and for us because we’re the accused.”
As we first reported Tuesday, Melinda Karlsson filed an application for an order of protection from Caryk claiming that she was responsible for an online harassment campaign that lasted for most of the last hockey season.
The peace bond was sworn in an Ottawa court on May 4. It alleges that Caryk threatened Melinda and Erik, and says the harassment continued until the couple’s son died in March. The Ottawa police are conducting an investigation into the matter.
No charges have been filed against Caryk and none of these allegations have been proven in court. Hoffman and Caryk say they haven’t been contacted by the police.
“We feel compassion and awful for what Erik and Melinda have had to deal with,” Hoffman said. “I don’t really think it’s correct to be blamed for something without having proof. In this world, you’re innocent until proven guilty.
“It hasn’t been easy. You don’t wish this upon anyone. The comments were, and have been horrendous, and we haven’t had a chance to defend ourselves until this point.”
Caryk said she first heard about Melinda’s accusations on March 22 — two days after the Karlssons’ son, Axel, was stillborn. Caryk says she received an email from Taylor Winnik, the wife of Minnesota Wild forward Daniel Winnik.
“I got a horrific email from a girl named Taylor Winnik, I believe her husband plays in the NHL, saying that I’m a horrible and disgusting person, accusing me of writing negative stuff about the fact that Erik and Melinda lost their child,” Caryk said.
“That was the first time that I was aware of any of this.”
Caryk said she’s never discussed the situation with Karlsson’s wife.
“Melinda has never come to me with any of this. Nothing,” Caryk said.
Hoffman said he only learned of these accusations when he got home and he immediately reached out to Karlsson by text.
“I sent a message out to him saying, ‘I’m aware of the situation and I’d like to discuss it and go through it with you,’ ” Hoffman said.
“It wasn’t until four days later that he spoke with me. We ended up doing it after practice, walking out of the rink, and basically what was said was, ‘I’d like to see what your point of the story is,’ and all he had to say was, ‘We know it was Monika,’ and I asked whether it was on Instagram? Twitter? Just show something or prove something.
“They wouldn’t do so at the time. All he said was that they knew it was her and it was the only thing mentioned.”
Caryk and Hoffman said they’re willing to work with Karlsson family to show that they weren’t involved.
“We reached out to Erik at the end of May to try and figure this out together and privately before something like this happened,” Hoffman said. “We got nothing back.
“All of a sudden, a few days later, we see this article all over social media and all over the world. There’s a few times we’ve tried to go to them to get to the bottom of it and discuss it and see what they had to say and let us defend ourselves, but there’s been no option to do that.”
So, why does Caryk think she’s being accused?
“I’m asking the same question you are,” she said. “I have no idea. Melinda and I weren’t best friends, but we weren’t enemies. We were civil. I honestly have no idea. I’m asking the same question you are.”
The couple says they knew nothing about the peace bond until this newspaper reported the details Tuesday afternoon.
“We had absolutely no idea,” Caryk said. “I had no idea she went to court. I had no idea I was supposed to be served with something. We don’t live (in Ottawa).
“Nobody called us. We answer every phone call we get. We had no idea. We’ve checked the cameras at our home and no one ever came. I don’t know.”
The seriousness of these allegations doesn’t sit well with Caryk or Hoffman because it doesn’t paint either of them in a very good light.
The allegations hurt, Caryk said. “It’s affecting Mike’s future career. It’s hurting my character, hurting Mike’s character, especially at a time we should be enjoying time away from hockey.
“This is just so hurtful. We’re both shocked by this.”
Hoffman added: “We know the seriousness of cyberbullying and people’s reputations are important and they’re at stake. This is something that has the potential
I don’t really think it’s correct to be blamed for something without having proof. In this world, you’re innocent until proven guilty.
of jeopardizing all of those. We’re taking this matter very seriously.”
Caryk and Hoffman said they ’ve tried to stay off their social media accounts since the story broke.
“Cyberbullying is a problem in our society and we’ve been swept into this horrible ordeal,” Caryk said. “We both want to give our full co-operation because we have nothing to hide.
“(The) nasty messages that we’re receiving right now are atrocious. They’re just gut-wrenching.”
They hope the hiring of Block, who conducted a review of former NHL Players’ Association executive director Ted Saskin, can help resolve the matter. The Senators have been contacted along with Karlsson’s agents.
Karlsson’s representatives could not be reached for comment Friday.
“We’re willing to work with the Senators, and we hope that Erik and Melinda will take part, to get to the bottom of this trolling and cyberbullying to find out who’s actually doing this stuff,” Caryk said. “We’d both love to find out. All four of us and the rest of the world.”
Hoffman said he wished this matter could have been resolved privately.
“I think it could have been resolved without showing the public everything,” Hoffman said. “We have no choice but to do what we have to do at this point. We tried to take the proper steps once we first found out and, at the end of the day, that’s all we can do. We can’t control what they do, and the actions they take, that’s on them.
“All we can control is the steps Monika and I take.”