Senators owner Eugene Melnyk may have just become my favorite person in the hockey world.
Melnyk had a thing or two to say about Matt Cooke, the Pittsburgh Penguins forward who injured his prized defenseman Erik Karlsson earlier in the year. Cooke rode Karlsson into the boards and, in the process of making the hit, stepped on the back of Karlsson’s leg. The result was a partially severed Achilles tendon and a missed season for the reigning Norris Trophy winner.
Here’s the hit for your viewing/judgement pleasure:
Whether or not the hit was intentional had been a hot topic at the time of the hit, especially given Cooke’s rather checkered history. But the league determined there was no malicious intent involved and Cooke went on with his life while the Sens were left reeling.
Still not happy about the incident, Melnyk went on the Fan 590 radio station in Toronto and offered up the following:
“I’m going to prove whether it was intentional or not,” Melnyk said.
Stating that he is working closely with forensic doctors in Toronto, Melnyk somehow thinks he will be able to prove that Cooke not only knew what he was doing but executed his plan in such a short window.
Melnyk continued:
“You watch. It may be public. It may not be public, but it’s between me and the league. I think it was intentional, but you have to be able to prove it and from all the television angles that we saw, you can’t see it. It was so fast. But the force of that skate, (it) had to go in through a sock, a sub sock, then (Karlsson’s) skin, muscle, sheath and then get to (Karlsson’s) tendon…either this guy is very good or very lucky, to be able to do that.”
Someone get David Carusso on the phone: CSI Ottawa has a case for him.
You get the feeling that Melnyk believes anyone who has a disciplinary hearing with Brendan Shanahan and the league is forced to leave finger prints and a semen sample. Put away your UV light, Eugene.
But, unfortunately for Melnyk, it doesn’t seem like anything than a crazy witch hunt. Like Karlsson, Melnyk’s CSI investigation…*puts on sunglasses* doesn’t have a leg to stand on.
YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH
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