A potentially franchise-altering summer for the Ottawa Senators has taken another dramatic turn.
This afternoon, the Ottawa Citizen reported that Melinda Karlsson, wife of Erik Karlsson, “has filed 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 story suggests that this dates back to November 2017 and that the application to the courts took place in May.
In recent days, the Mike Hoffman rumour mill has seemingly kicked into high-gear with a trade going from a possibility to an inevitability. And now we know why.
What is clear now is that the Senators have to deal with this quickly and that they probably should have done so months ago.
Regardless of whether these allegations prove to be true, the fact is somebody made these comments. Considering what the Karlsson family has gone through this year, it’s unthinkable that someone would attack them in this way.
Mike Hoffman provided the following comment on the story.
Update: Hoffman has now denied the allegations. https://t.co/1tYtSHKPnb pic.twitter.com/qbUKwwliMe
— Drake Fenton (@drakefenton) June 12, 2018
The Ottawa Citizen has been updating the story throughout the evening including quotes from Mike Hoffman’s agent.
Robert Hooper indicates that he and Pierre Dorion have discussed the situation multiple times since the end of the season.
Hooper also states the obvious saying that he expects his client will be traded this summer.
Oh and at the same time that this story was breaking, The Athletic reported that “the 19-year-old Buffalo shuttle driver who said Ottawa Senators assistant general manager Randy Lee harassed him has obtained an order of protection against the longtime team executive.”
Never a dull moment.
