FURIOUS WITH SLASH BY SID
Sens owner wants Crosby to sit out a long time
Eugene Melnyk wants the NHL to throw the book at Sidney Crosby.
The Senators owner wants to see the league hit its best player with a suspension for his vicious slash on defenceman Marc Methot during Ottawa’s 2-1 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday night at Canadian Tire Centre.
Livid that Methot will be lost for an extended period after his finger was destroyed by the slash from Crosby in the first period, Melnyk called Crosby “a whiner” during an interview with TSN 1200 on Friday morning.
“Sometimes they miss these things. I hope this guy — and we all know who he is — the guy is a just a whiner beyond belief,” said an outraged Melnyk. “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 of CAA Sports, 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 sort of supplemental discipline. No penalty was called on the play.
Television images showed Methot’s finger dripping with blood, and was a difficult sight to see.
“The guy lost the top of his finger? Did you see it? It’s ugly,” said Melnyk. “I wouldn’t want to show that to anybody under the age of 25.”
Melnyk has always been a big believer that league discipline should be based on the extent of the injury. He’s of the opinion that if Methot is going to miss 10 games, then Crosby should be banned for that length of time as well.
“I’m sure this is being taken up with the league this morning. I’ve asked for an update and I haven’t gotten it yet,” Melnyk said. “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?
“No, really. He takes my guy, I take your guy. That’s my attitude. The guy who creates the injury should be sitting out (and) they should be watching games together for the rest of this season. That’s the kind of attitude I have, there’s just no room for that.”
Melnyk noted it’s not like this is the first time this has happened in the NHL — or to his own team, specifically.
Don’t forget the Senators have the whole history with the Matt Cooke incident, which his skate slashed the Achilles tendon of captain Erik Karlsson in 2013. Melnyk launched an investigation into whether that was accidental and did present his findings to the NHL, but those have never been made public.
“You’ve got to think of it, Marc Methot, that’s who you saw. I see the kinds of things that happen behind the scenes from slashes and they’re ugly,” said Melnyk. “They’re just as ugly as Marc’s. (His) was so visible it was a terrifying thing to look at those pictures. I don’t even want to think about it, it’s so disgusting.
“That’s the only way to do it, you hammer these guys, take away their money because they all understand money, and you simply say you’re done for 10 games and guess what you guys aren’t even going to get close to the Stanley Cup if it’s an elite player on the other side. There’s no room for it in the NHL.”
Crosby claimed innocence after the game.
“I’m just trying to get his stick, and I think I caught his finger, judging by his reaction and their reaction,” Crosby told Pittsburgh reporters. “I’ve gotten those before, they don’t feel good.”
The reality is there’s nothing the Senators can do about the injury now and they’ll have to soldier on without Methot. Coach Guy Boucher said Methot isn’t going to be back anytime soon and he’ll be missed because he plays big minutes with Karlsson on the first defence pairing.
“You don’t want to lose a player on any play, especially at this time of the year,” said Boucher. “We need him a big time. He’s a top-two defenceman, he’s Erik’s partner and he’s got such great mobility. He’s our top plus/ minus guy and it’s invaluable.
“You never want to lose a top four defenceman and we’ve lost one now. It’s very disappointing. It wasn’t a big hit or anything, it was a two-hand slash. It’s sad to see because we need him badly.”
Boucher said there should have at least been a penalty on the play.
“The referees saw the replay and they said they didn’t see it,” Boucher said.
“It wasn’t like they didn’t think it was, they just didn’t see it and that happens. I’m not going to blame the referees for not seeing something, they didn’t see it, they didn’t see it.”
Melnyk did and he’s seeing red.
… 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.