Senators Owner Pissed At Sidney Crosby

Sidney Crosby is at it again, “it” in this case short for “being an irritating asshole.”

Two days after cleaning Ryan O’Reilly’s taint with his hockey stick, the Penguins’ captain slashed Marc Methot and lopped off part of his finger. It appeared to be a “routine” slash, but even without the copious amounts of blood, that ought to be worth two minutes.

Crosby didn’t receive any sort of penalty, while Methot had to leave the game, and could be out for a while. Senators owner Eugene Melnyk seemed furious at the lack of discipline. Via the Ottawa Citizen:

“We all know who he is. The guy is just beyond belief,” said an upset Melnyk. “You do this kind of stuff, I don’t care who you are in the league, I don’t care if you’re the number one player in the league you need to sit out a long time for this kind of crap.”

Melnyk suggested that Crosby should be suspended for as long as Methot is out, which will apparently be for “weeks,” but that would never happen because the NHL values its stars more than it values Marc Methot’s corporeal integrity. Crosby’s finger slash was an instance of bad luck, but there’s no reasonable explanation for why he smacked O’Reilly’s undercarriage. Regardless, he won’t have a hearing for either action. An NHL spokesperson tells us:

Nothing involving Sidney Crosby over the last few days has been deemed worthy of a hearing by the NHL Department of Player Safety.

The lack of punishment is dangerous not just because Crosby gets away with dirty play, but because it increases the possibility that Hockey Law will be invoked to solve this. The Senators, who are likely to make the playoffs, could go after Pittsburgh’s star when they find the chance, and given Crosby’s history with concussions, the Pens could lose him for longer than a suspension for the actual offense.