Penguins coach Mike Sullivan came to his captain's defense before Friday's game against the Islanders, defending Sidney Crosby following some disparaging comments from Senators owner Eugene Melnyk on a Canadian radio station.
Melnyk was peeved over Crosby's non-penalized slash Thursday against Ottawa defenseman Marc Methot, a play that severed the top of Methot's finger.
Melnyk called Crosby a "whiner" and said he should face a serious suspension.
Does Sullivan find any of it valid?
"No, I don't," Sullivan said. "In my experience, we see it just the opposite.
"When I watch what Sid goes through on a nightly basis, what he plays through on a nightly basis, what teams try to do to defend against him and the tactics that they take ... and he doesn't get deterred, doesn't say anything, he just plays, and he plays through the process ... When I hear comments like that, my experience of being around Sid for the time that I've been here is just the opposite."
It's not the first time Melnyk has been critical of the Penguins. He went after Matt Cooke a few years ago when Cooke's skate inadvertently cut Senators defenseman Erik Karlsson.
Crosby will not face punishment for the play and insisted the game that it was a routine hockey play, an opinion many _ except for Melnyk, of course _ seemed to agree with, including Crosby's coach.
"I don't think it was intentional," Sullivan said. "He's trying to slash on the stick. It happens numerous times in the game. It was unfortunate that he caught his hand. That's how I saw it."
