A series of allegations made by the wife of the captain of the Ottawa Senators against a fellow teammate’s fiancée, detailing a season-long campaign of targeted online harassment, threatens to upend Ottawa’s locker room, leaving the futures of two of the team’s stars in question.
Melinda Karlsson, née Currey, has filed an application for an order of protection against the longtime girlfriend of Senators forward Mike Hoffman — alleging a campaign of harassment that plagued the Karlssons after the death of their son and through much of the last NHL season
The application for a peace bond sworn in front of Justice of the Peace Louise Logue on May 4, alleges that Monika Caryk, Hoffman’s partner, had threatened Melinda and husband Erik Karlsson from November 2017 to the date the information was sworn to.
This newspaper has also learned that there is an active Ottawa police investigation into the criminal harassment (stalking) allegations and that it is being probed by central district detectives. No conditions have been set out in the peace bond, which is similar to a restraining order, since it was never served on Caryk.
Hoffman and his camp, speaking on behalf of the forward and Caryk, vehemently deny the allegations.
No criminal charges have been laid against Caryk and none of the allegations against her has been tested in court.
In late November, the Karlssons announced on social media that they were expecting their first child, a son they would later name Axel Michael who was stillborn on March 19, 2018.
“Monika Caryk has uttered numerous statements wishing my unborn child dead,” says Melinda Karlsson’s sworn statement to the court.
Erik Karlsson, too, was allegedly targeted.
“She also uttered that she wished I was dead and that someone should ‘take out’ my husband’s legs to ‘end his career.’
“Monika Caryk has posted over 1,000 negative and derogatory statements about me as a professional.”
Though the application was sworn in early May, nearly one month after the Sens’ season ended in Boston, team officials, including general manager Pierre Dorion, and Hoffman have known about the allegations since the end of the regular season.
LIVE: Join us as we discuss the future of Mike Hoffman, Erik Karlsson and the Ottawa Senators
Reached on Tuesday afternoon after this newspaper broke the story, Hoffman said, “There’s nothing really for me to say, at this time. That’s all I can say.”
In a subsequent comment, Hoffman said, “There is a 150 per cent chance that my fiancée Monika and I are not involved in any of the accusations that have been pursued (that are) coming our way.”
Hoffman said that the couple believes “there’s no place for cyberbullying.”
In March, Sens captain Erik Karlsson blasted an anonymous online troll who, in the comments section of a post mourning his dead son, accused his wife of “popping painkiller medication” during her pregnancy.
In an Instagram post following his son’s death, Erik Karlsson posted a photo of Axel’s tiny footprints. In the post, Karlsson thanked the city and the team’s fans for their love and support and wrote: “We feel very lucky to be Axel’s parents. Even though he was stillborn, we know we will hold him again one day under different circumstances and the joy he gave us will be with us forever.”
The post garnered more than 10,000 comments, with the overwhelming majority of them expressions of support and sympathy for the couple. However, one comment, posted by user @sandydandy45, stood out: “I feel bad for the baby he didn’t have a chance with Melinda popping pain killer medication everyday.”
It took the league’s top defenceman just seven minutes to respond: “How dare you. You have been making fake accounts and buying hacked ones for months to harass me and my wife but this is an all new low even for you. You are a disgusting person.”
The user @sandydandy45 has since deactivated that account.
This newspaper also found other social media users coming to Melinda’s defence after Twitter user @petersonmegan51 used an anti-bullying event to insult her. That account has also since been deleted.
“We’ve offered to co-operate and do anything it takes to find out who is doing this, and support (the Karlssons),” Hoffman said, saying that the Karlssons are being harassed, but denying his fiancée’s involvement.
“Obviously this is a tough time that they’re going through, and we want to find out who is doing this, because for some reason it’s coming into our court, and it’s 150 per cent that it’s not us.
“We have nothing to hide. We’re willing to co-operate in any way to solve this and figure it out, and prove that it wasn’t us.”
In recent weeks, Caryk created a new Instagram profile, which she made private. That account calls her a “professional packer-unpacker,” “frenchdog enthusiast” and “Champagne lover.” After this newspaper published a story Tuesday detailing the allegations, a Facebook profile in her name was deactivated.
The peace bond application sworn against her on May 4, ordered a court date of May 25, but by that time, Caryk had yet to be served with the notice.
Court filings list her summer address from June to August as being in Waterloo. Her home from September to May — and during the NHL season — is listed as the McKellar Park home owned by Hoffman.
READ: Erik Karlsson blasts online troll for disgusting comments
A peace bond, issued under section 810 of the Criminal Code, is similar to a restraining order, which typically only applies in family court situations. A peace bond is an order of protection issued by a justice of the peace when a person fears injury to themselves or to their property, or fears that someone is likely to commit a criminal offence, though one has not yet been committed.
With the NHL draft and the beginning of free agency around the corner — traditionally a time when teams test the trade waters — there has been much public speculation among hockey insiders that one, if not both players, will be dealt by the team.
Hoffman’s agent, Robert Hooper, believes it’s a certainty.
Hooper said Hoffman hasn’t asked for a trade but said he wouldn’t stand in the way of one either and that Dorion, Ottawa’s general manager, is aware of that.
BACKGROUND: ‘Ottawa is with you’ — Tributes pour in for Erik and Melinda Karlsson after tragic loss of couple’s stillborn son
“What we’ve indicated to Pierre is that, and let’s call a spade a spade, it would be very difficult for both parties — both Erik and Mike as well as the wives and the fiancées — to co-exist in the same wives’ room and the same dressing room,” Hooper said.
No demands have been made to Dorion from Hoffman’s camp but given the intense insider speculation Hooper said he thinks “the writing’s on the wall.”
“In my 22 years in this business I don’t believe that I’ve ever come across a situation like this,” Hooper said. “This is an exceptionally unique situation and one that’s very unfortunate. Hopefully it can get resolved as quickly as possible.”
Hooper said there have been several discussions with Dorion regarding the matter.
“This isn’t something we talked about with Pierre just today. We’ve been aware of this situation since the end of the season,” Hooper said.
The Senators released a statement Tuesday evening saying the organization is “investigating this matter in co-operation with the NHL and will take whatever steps are necessary to protect the safety and privacy of our players and their families.”
ALSO: Dealing Mike Hoffman and Erik Karlsson would leave Senators to hope for offence and patience
Hoffman’s agent also expressed his confidence in Caryk’s innocence and told this newspaper Hoffman only learned of Melinda Karlsson’s application from the news report.
“It’s a very delicate and difficult situation,” Hooper said. “At this stage, we haven’t been provided anything at this point in time that would indicate Mike or Monika is involved with this type of situation.”
Hooper expressed some frustration and disappointment with only having “Mike and our side” finding out about the order of protection application from the media and not the police.
“I would have thought in this day and age … I’m surprised they weren’t able to locate Mike quicker than they have,” Hooper said.
(As a private peace bond application, the application was made by Karlsson herself, not the police. And as Caryk was the only named defendant, the summons can only be served on her, not Hoffman.)
Hooper said that the forward and defenceman have not discussed the issue.
“I think this has been between Melinda and Monika and less between Mike and Erik,” he said.
In nine seasons with the Senators, Karlsson has established himself as one of the greatest players in the franchise’s history.
He’s finished as the league’s top-scoring defenceman four times and has won the Norris Trophy twice, the award given to the NHL’s top defender.
Karlsson has also led the Senators in scoring for the last five years, though he shared the title with winger Mark Stone last season, a disappointing campaign that saw the club miss the playoffs just one year after having come within a goal of making the Stanley Cup finals.
Karlsson, who succeeded Jason Spezza as the Senators’ ninth captain in 2014, signed a seven-year, $45-million deal in 2012.
The annual average value of $6.5 million made him the league’s 14th highest-paid defenceman last season.
Karlsson is set to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1, 2019, leaving the Senators with three options before that date: re-sign him, which would require giving him a substantial raise; trade him; or let him walk in free agency.
Hoffman, meanwhile, has been one of the Senators’ most consistent goal scorers during his tenure with the club.
He was selected in the fifth round of the 2009 draft, with the 130th pick overall, and for the last four seasons he’s led the team in goals.
Hoffman earned Calder Trophy consideration as the league’s top rookie in 2014-15, when he scored a team-high 27 goals. Playing on a one-year contract, he improved the total to 29 goals the following season.
Following the 2015-16 season, he was rewarded with a four-year, $20.75 million deal, of which he is now halfway through.
The Karlssons did not return a request for comment.
Bruce Garrioch and Don Brennan contributed to this report
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MORE: Social media reacts to Hoffman-Karlsson allegations
Just when we thought this off-season couldn’t get any worse, well... it did.
Around the internet, plenty of rumours were swirling following an alleged incident involving Ottawa Senators forward Mike Hoffman. We have learned about these incidents today, which allegedly revolve around Hoffman’s longtime girlfriend, Monika Caryk.
Erik Karlsson’s wife, Melinda, files order of protection against Mike Hoffman’s long-time girlfriend after alleged campaign of harassment #ottsports https://t.co/e6SCaSKVQD pic.twitter.com/XTRrDe74sV — Ottawa Citizen (@OttawaCitizen) June 12, 2018
According to the Ottawa Citizen, Caryk began a campaign of social media harassment towards Senators captain Erik Karlsson and his wife Melinda, through now-deleted accounts on Twitter and Instagram. The details provided by the Citizen paint the cruel picture, from an incident following Melinda’s unfortunate stillbirth:
In an Instagram post mourning his son’s death, Erik Karlsson posted a photo of Axel’s tiny footprints. In the post, Karlsson thanked the city and the team’s fans for their love and support and wrote: “We feel very lucky to be Axel’s parents. Even though he was stillborn, we know we will hold him again one day under different circumstances and the joy he gave us will be with us forever.” The post garnered more than 10,000 comments, with the overwhelming majority of them expressions of support and sympathy for the couple. However, one comment, posted by user @sandydandy45, stood out: “I feel bad for the baby he didn’t have a chance with Melinda popping pain killer medication everyday.”
Melinda has since filed a peace bond application against Caryk, alleging in a sworn statement to the court that she “has uttered numerous statements wishing my unborn child dead,” and “posted over 1,000 negative and derogatory statements about me as a professional.”
A peace bond exists as a way for a person to protect themselves against someone who they feel to be a threat to commit a crime against them, despite the person having not yet committed anything. The bond was originally filed on May 4th, and the Ottawa police have also begun to conduct an investigation for harassment.
Mike Hoffman has since released the following statement, denying the allegations:
“There is a 150 per cent chance that my fianceé [sic] Monika and I are not involved in any of the accusations that have been pursued (that are) coming our way. We totally understand there’s no place for cyberbullying. “We’ve offered to co-operate and do anything it takes to find out who is doing this, and support (the Karlssons). Obviously this is a tough time that they’re going through, and we want to find out who is doing this, because for some reason it’s coming into our court, and it’s 150 per cent that it’s not us. “We have nothing to hide. We’re willing to co-operate in any way to solve this and figure it out, and prove that it wasn’t us.”
Rumours about a potential Mike Hoffman trade have been vivid ever since the beginning of the Sens’ string of losses in December and January, although with the buzz resurfacing, it’s very possible that these allegations are connected.
Update: The Ottawa Senators have released the following statement.
“We are investigating this matter in cooperation with the NHL and will take whatever steps are necessary to protect the safety and privacy of our players and their families.”
A second protection order has been filed against a connected member of the Sens today, as we have also received an update to the Randy Lee situation. According to Katie Strang from The Athletic (paywall), the hotel employee which he allegedly harassed has filed a protection order that prohibits Lee from visiting the young man’s school, business and place of employment (i.e. the hotel), as well as from contacting him electronically. The order will remain in place until at least October 1st 2018, until which time Lee could face criminal prosecution
Lee, who currently holds titles as the Ottawa Senators’ assistance general and Belleville Senators’ general manager, has had no change in his organizational role since the incident. Additionally, team owner Eugene Melnyk has provided him with lawyer Paul Cambria, who also handled allegations against NHLers Patrick Kane and Evander Kane. Lee is scheduled to appear in court on July 6th.
The Senators had hired Nicolas Ruszkowski as their new COO two weeks ago, likely to manage the team’s public relations due to his extensive background in the field. He doesn’t officially start until June 14th, although it’s safe to say he’ll be stepping in to a challenging situation.
Update: Randy Lee’s court date has been moved from June 22nd to July 6th. He will no longer miss the first day of the NHL entry draft.
The wife of Senators captain Erik Karlsson has taken legal action against the girlfriend of one of his teammates for alleged social media posts wishing death and pain upon their family.
Melinda Karlsson, who wed Erik last August, filed an order of protection last month against Monika Caryk, the longtime girlfriend of winger Mike Hoffman, accusing her of threatening and harassing the couple before and after their unborn son’s death in March, according to the Ottawa Citizen. The peace bond application — which is similar to a restraining order — said Caryk had been using social media to target them since November 2017, the same month the couple announced they were expecting their first child.
Melinda revealed the disturbing details of Caryk’s alleged harassment in a sworn statement to the court.
“Monika Caryk has uttered numerous statements wishing my unborn child dead,” Karlsson said. “She also uttered that she wished I was dead and that someone should ‘take out’ my husband’s legs to ‘end his career.’
“Monika Caryk has posted over 1,000 negative and derogatory statements about me as a professional.”
The Senators announced on Tuesday they have opened an investigation into the Karlssons’ accusations.
“We are investigating this matter in co-operation with the NHL and will take whatever steps are necessary to protect the safety and privacy of our players and their families,” the team said in a statement.
It’s unclear why the Karlssons are convinced that Caryk is behind the cyber attacks.
Hoffman, Karlsson’s Senators teammate of seven years, passionately denied the allegations, when reached by the Citizen, and offered to help track down the perpetrator(s).
“There is a 150-percent chance that my fianceé Monika and I are not involved in any of the accusations that have been pursued (that are) coming our way. We totally understand there’s no place for cyberbullying,” Hoffman said in a statement. “We’ve offered to cooperate and do anything it takes to find out who is doing this, and support (the Karlssons). Obviously this is a tough time that they’re going through, and we want to find out who is doing this, because for some reason it’s coming into our court, and it’s 150 percent that it’s not us.
“We have nothing to hide. We’re willing to cooperate in any way to solve this and figure it out, and prove that it wasn’t us.”
see also NHL star Erik Karlsson tragically loses unborn son About a month before the due date, Erik Karlsson and...
One of the social media posts under question came the day Erik Karlsson revealed on Instagram that he and Melinda had lost their unborn son, whom they planned to name Axel Michael. In the comments section, a user with the handle @sanddandy45 blamed the boy’s death on Melinda’s taking painkillers during pregnancy, which Erik quickly shot down with an accusation of his own.
“I feel bad for the baby he didn’t have a chance with Melinda popping pain killer medication everyday,” the comment read.
“How dare you,” Erik Karlsson replied in the March 21 post. “You have been making fake accounts and buying hacked ones for months to harass me and my wife but this is an all new low even for you. You are a disgusting person.”
A separate account, by the name of @petersonmegan51, was also used to harass Melinda Karlsson in reference an anti-bullying event, according to the newspaper.
Karlsson, one of the league’s top defensemen at 28, could soon be on his way out of Ottawa with his contract set to expire after next season and trade rumors swirling. Meanwhile, Hoffman, also 28, has proven himself as one of the Senators’ best scoring threats and has two more years left on the four-year, $20.75 million extension he signed after the 2015-16 season.
The Ottawa Senators seem to have some problems.
On the ice they were one of the worst teams in the NHL this past season and entered an offseason where it seemed likely that their franchise player — defenseman Erik Karlsson — was going to be traded.
Now that the offseason has actually arrived things have managed to get infinitely worse.
It all started around the NHL scouting combine when assistant general manager Randy Lee was charged with harassing a hotel shuttle bus driver. That hotel employee has since filed an order of protection against Lee, who will miss a portion of the NHL draft as he will be due in court.
The Senators only comment on the matter to this point has been that they are reviewing the situation.
On Tuesday, things became even more bizarre.
It was then that the Ottawa Citizendropped a bombshell of a report that states Karlsson’s wife, Melinda, has filed an order of protection against Monika Caryk, the fiancee of Karlsson’s teammate, Mike Hoffman, due to “a campaign of harassment that has plagued the Karlssons after the death of their son and through much of the last NHL season.”
From the Citizen‘s report:
“Monika Caryk has uttered numerous statements wishing my unborn child dead,” says Melinda Karlsson’s sworn statement to the court. “She also uttered that she wished I was dead and that someone should ‘take out’ my husband’s legs to ‘end his career.’ “Monika Caryk has posted over 1,000 negative and derogatory statements about me as a professional.”
There is a lot to unpack here, but what makes it all especially disturbing is the sequence of events between November of 2017 and March of this year.
It was in November that the Karlssons announced that they were expecting their first child.
Tragically, their son, Axel Michael, was stillborn in March. Shortly after the passing of Axel, Karlsson publicly blasted an Internet troll in the comments section of his Instagram post mourning the loss of their son.
Story Continues
The comment that sparked Karlsson’s response was left by the username “@Sandydandy45” and said: “I feel bad for the baby he didn’t have a chance with Melinda popping pain killer medication everyday.”
Karlsson wrote in response: “How dare you. You have been making fake accounts and buying hacked ones for months to harass me and my wife but this is an all new low even for you. You are a disgusting person.”
The Citizen notes that the “@SandyDandy45” account, as well as a Twitter account that used an anti-bullying event to criticize Melinda, have since been deleted.
Hoffman, who has been a member of the Senators since the 2010 season, two years after Karlsson made his debut with the team, issued a statement to the Citizen.
Reached on Tuesday afternoon, Hoffman said, “There’s nothing really for me to say, at this time. That’s all I can say.” In a subsequent comment, Hoffman said, “There is a 150 per cent chance that my fianceé Monika and I are not involved in any of the accusations that have been pursued (that are) coming our way. We totally understand there’s no place for cyberbullying. “We’ve offered to co-operate and do anything it takes to find out who is doing this, and support (the Karlssons). Obviously this is a tough time that they’re going through, and we want to find out who is doing this, because for some reason it’s coming into our court, and it’s 150 per cent that it’s not us. “We have nothing to hide. We’re willing to co-operate in any way to solve this and figure it out, and prove that it wasn’t us.”
More from the Citizen in terms of the ongoing investigation:
A peace bond, issued under section 810 of the Criminal Code, is similar to a restraining order, which typically only applies in family court situations. A peace bond is an order of protection issued by a justice of the peace when a person fears injury to themselves or to their property, or fears that someone is likely to commit a criminal offence, though one has not yet been committed. This newspaper has also learned that there is an active Ottawa police investigation into the criminal harassment (stalking) allegations and that it is being probed by central district detectives. No criminal charges have been laid against Caryk and none of the allegations against her has been tested in court. No conditions have been set out in the bond either, since it appears to not have been served on Caryk.
Given the sub-par performance of the team on the ice this past season, the financial situation of the organization, and the fact Karlsson is a free agent after this upcoming season, it has been speculation that he could be traded this summer. Hoffman, who still has two years remaining on his current contract that pays him more than $5 million per season, is also rumored to be on the trade block.
UPDATE: The Senators have issued a statement:
“We are investigating this matter in co-operation with the NHL and will take whatever steps are necessary to protect the safety and privacy of our players and their families.”
Adam Gretz is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @AGretz.
