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.”
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.
