OTTAWA - The following is a statement by Eugene Melnyk and a reprint of an NHL statement issued yesterday:

Eugene Melnyk (born May 27, 1959 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada) is a Canadian businessman of Ukrainian origin who now resides free of Canadian taxes in Barbados. He is the current owner, governor, and chairman of the Ottawa Senators professional ice hockey club of the National Hockey League (NHL). He also owns the Mississauga St. Michael's Majors junior-age ice hockey club. He is the former chairman and CEO of Biovail Corporation and former owner of Trimel Corporation. Source Wikipedia

"As a businessman, I know about playing tough and getting your elbows up. I also know lessons that most of us learned early in our childhoods - you play fair; you play by the rules and you help others when you can. I have watched with some dismay Jim Balsillie's fall from being a deserving business icon to what now appears to be a desperate man willing to say anything or do anything to buy an NHL franchise.

I used to privately feel sympathy for his plight, but as I've watched his conduct with and towards the league and other owners, I clearly believe the sport of hockey is better off without him.

In a recent legal filing, he dragged me into his hurricane of legal filings and panicked pleas and cited me as someone who is lacking the personal integrity to own the Ottawa Senators hockey franchise.

I've tried to reach Jim through his office to find out why he would say something like this about me - we barely know each other - but I've received no response. I will say in response publicly that his willingness to drag down anyone he can get his hands on along with him is discouraging and saddens me. Jim and I both found great success in our Canadian businesses. And that is where the comparisons stop.

When I sought to purchase the Ottawa Senators, there were great obstacles but I played by the rules and respected the NHL as an institution. I have spent my adult life helping others - supporting charities, orphanages, day care centres, supporting our troops and our athletes.

I do these things to give back to my country and to really deserving men, women and children in Canada. I mind my own business and don't drag in others when I get into trouble.

It is well documented that I was required to pay fines to the OSC over civil administrative oversights like filing paperwork on time. This is a far cry from the sanctions imposed on Jim Balsillie by the Ontario Securities Commission arising from his role in the improper grant by Research In Motion (NASDAQ:RIMM, TSX: RIM) of more than 1,000 stock options involving millions of shares over a period of almost ten years, his role in the systematic and repeated issuance by RIM over many years of misleading disclosure concerning RIM's stock option dating practices, and the benefits Balsillie derived personally from stock options that were granted improperly to him . These sanctions are widely acknowledged to be among the most severe ever imposed by a Securities Commission in Canada (see http://www.osc.gov.on.ca/Enforcement/Proceedings/AlphaListing/ep_r_index.jsp)

I'm comfortable in my own skin, Jim. You should look around at the friends you are losing and the damage you are causing to yourself, the NHL and all Canadians."