MONTREAL — Eugene Melnyk has seen enough of Sidney Crosby’s act.
And the Ottawa Senators owner says the NHL should throw the book at its best player with a suspension for his vicious slash on defenceman Marc Methot in the club’s 2-1 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins Thursday night.
Livid 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 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.”
While Melnyk asked GM Pierre Dorion to contact the league about the incident, indications are Crosby isn’t going to face any further discipline for the matter. It was hard to look at when it was shown on television.
Warning: Video is gruesome.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHSiVYCagH0&w=640&h=390]
“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.
Melnyk has always been a big believer that 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 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.
Don’t forget the Senators have the whole history with the Matt Cooke incident involving captain Erik Karlsson’s Achilles 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 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 two-hand slash. It’s sad to see because we need him badly.”
Boucher said there should have been a call.
“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.