Ottawa Senators owner Eugene Melnyk is "outraged" that his club will be without Norris Trophy-winning defenceman Erik Karlsson for the remainder of the season.
Melnyk spoke to the Ottawa Sun on Thursday and wondered aloud why Pittsburgh Penguins forward Matt Cooke, whose skate blade cut Karlsson's achilles tendon on Wednesday night, was still allowed to play in the league after being suspended by the NHL five times previously.
"I'm very upset. Actually I'm more than upset; I'm outraged that in this day and age this continues," said Melnyk. "Whether it's accidental or not, that's not our job to judge. That's why the NHL is there to assess it.
"This guy should be kicked ... He doesn't belong in the league. He belongs somewhere where the goons play," Melnyk told the Sun. "Get him in the Central League. He can be a $60,000-a-year guy playing pick-up hockey there."
This isn't the first time that Melnyk has expressed his thoughts on handing out lifetime bans to repeat offenders. In 2010, Jason Spezza suffered a shoulder injury after being hit by Penguins forward Kris Letang, and Melynk spoke out after that incident as well.
"(Cooke has) got one purpose. I remember when this happened with Spezza. I said, 'If these are the rules, I just want to know.' We'll play with the same rules. Make sure you have one or two goons whose job is to do this either intentionally or unintentionally.
"I'm OK with it, just tell me I'm OK with it. I play by the rules. I'm just shocked an organization would do this," added Melnyk.
Melynk also told the Sun that he contacted the league after Karlsson's injury and stated that he thought Cooke should have been suspended for the incident.
"I can't comment on (Cooke not getting suspended) only because it's not helpful for anybody," Melnyk stated. "They came to their conclusions and it's not going to change anything."
Despite the challenges of losing Spezza and Karlsson to significant injuries and not having defenceman Jared Cowen for the entire year due to hip surgery, Melynk expressed his belief to the Sun that his team can make the playoffs.
"I really believe with fan support that this is a team that has the motivation and the veterans that can motivate the young ones, that we can pull together and I believe that we can pull this off. These guys can use this to rally around this tragedy.
"I believe we can be lucky enough to pull this off."
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