from Bruce Garrioch at the Ottawa Citizen,

...there has been talk that the Washington Capitals will allow winger Alex Ovechkin to attend to play with Russia, but if Ottawa captain Erik Karlsson wanted to go suit up for Sweden, Melnyk doesn’t believe that would be possible.

It’s believed the league will have a blanket policy on the subject before the season.

“If (Karlsson) came to me it would simply be a referral to the NHL offices,” Melnyk said. “They took over. I don’t have to make a decision. The decision was made by them. He has to deal with whatever those meetings if they occur.”

Melnyk said the Olympics should be a stage for amateur players.

“This should be amateur as it always was intended from the beginning of time,” he added. “It’s an amateur competition. Keep it that way. Now you’ve got boxing matches. You’ve got professionals, making multi-million dollars.”

The concern for Melnyk naturally is injury to the likes of Karlsson or any other star player. The Senators lost goalie Dominik Hasek in 2006 in Turin with a groin injury while playing for the Czech Republic and he never returned to the club’s net.

“That was our year to win a Stanley Cup. We had all the momentum to win a Stanley Cup or, at the very least, get into the Stanley Cup final. We were there,” Melnyk said. “He wanted to go play for the Czech Republic. We let him go.

“The first game he left and he doesn’t play another game for us.

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