Ottawa Senators owner Eugene Melnyk is not happy with Pittsburgh Penguins superstar Sidney Crosby, saying the two-time league MVP should be suspended "for a long time" as a result of a serious finger injury to Senators defenseman Marc Methot.
"We all know who he is. The guy is just beyond belief," Melnyk told TSN 1200 radio in Ottawa on Friday. "You do this kind of stuff, 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 need to sit out a long time for this kind of crap."
Methot left Thursday's game against the Penguins with a bloodied and mangled finger on his left hand after a two-handed slash from Crosby, who didn't receive a penalty on the play. Coach Guy Boucher said Methot's finger "is destroyed ... shattered and he's out for weeks."
Melnyk, while not mentioning Crosby by name during his radio appearance, said the league should review the incident because he feels it's worth a suspension. NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly told ESPN the league is not looking into the incident and Crosby will not face discipline.
"You do anything that's almost a certain injury, and I think the only way you do it is you wipe the guy off the map ... not one or two games -- 10. How about a season for a few of these guys?" Melnyk said. "I mean, really. He takes my guy; I take your guy. That's my attitude. The guy who creates the injury, they should watch games together for the rest of the season. That's the kind of attitude I have. There's no room for that.
"... That's the only way you do it. You hammer these guys, and you take away their money because they all understand money. And you say, 'You're done for 10 games.' And guess what? You guys aren't getting anywhere close to winning the Stanley Cup if it's an elite player on the other side. There's no room for it in the NHL."
Pat Brisson, Crosby's agent, says there's no room for comments such as Melnyk's in the sport.
"In my opinion, a team owner who makes a negative comment about a player outside of his organization should be fined for such action," Melnyk said. "It's worse than tampering and against the culture of our game."
Methot grabbed Crosby by the jersey after the whistle and had a few words for the Penguins captain before leaving the ice, but Senators captain Erik Karlsson said after the game that it was just an unfortunate play.
"Plays like that happen all the time, but I don't think it was intentional or dirty," he said.
Crosby echoed those sentiments.
"I was just trying to get his stick, and I think I caught his finger, judging by his reaction and their reaction," Crosby said. "I've gotten those before. They don't feel good."
On Friday, however, Melnyk was not ready to subscribe to that line of thinking.
"I see things behind the scenes with what happens with slashes. They're ugly," Melnyk said. "They're just as ugly as Marc's. But Marc's was so visible. It was a terrifying thing to look at those pictures. I don't even want to think about it. It's that disgusting."
ESPN's Pierre LeBrun and The Associated Press contributed to this report.