Ottawa owner wants ‘whiner’ Crosby to pay

Senators owner Eugene Melnyk says the NHL should throw the book at the league’s best player for his vicious slash on defenceman Marc Methot during Ottawa’s 2-1 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins Thursday.

Livid that Methot will be lost for an extended period after his finger was destroyed by the slash from Sidney Crosby, Melnyk called the Penguins star “a whiner” during an interview with Ottawa radio station TSN 1200 on Friday morning.

“Sometimes they miss these things. I hope this guy — and we all know who he is — the guy is just a whiner beyond belief,” an outraged Melnyk said. “You do this kind of stuff and I don’t care who you are in the league, I don’t care if you’re the No. 1 player in the league, you should sit out a long time for this kind of crap. I really do.”

Crosby’s agent Pat Brisson wasn’t happy with Melnyk’s statement.

“In my opinion, a team owner who makes a negative comment about a player outside of his organization should be fined for such action. It’s worse than tampering and against the culture of our game,” Brisson told TSN’s Darren Dreger.

While Melnyk asked Senators GM Pierre Dorion to contact the league about the incident, the indications are Crosby isn’t going to face any league discipline.

Methot’s blood-encased finger was hard to look at.

“The guy lost the top of his finger? Did you see it? It’s ugly. I wouldn’t want to show that to anybody under the age of 25,” said Melnyk, who has always been a big believer that discipline should be based on the extent of the injury.

“You do anything that’s almost a certain injury and I think the only way to do it is you wipe the guy off the map ... not for one or two games, 10 or how about a season for a few of these guys?” Melnyk said. “No, really. He takes my guy, I take your guy. That’s my attitude.”