Ryan O'Byrne Case: Montreal Canadiens Cross the Thin Blue Line

I've never been to Bern's steakhouse in Tampa Bay, but according to its website, it offers a wonderful assortment of beef (aged a minimum of five weeks) and a wide variety of fine wines.

In fact, their wine cellar is "the proud winner of the 2005 Wine Spectator Grand Award." 

The Montreal Canadiens visited the steakhouse Sunday night for the annual Rookie Dinner, a Habs tradition where the team's young hotshots foot the bill for the entire locker room.

On this night, Carey Price and Ryan O'Byrne had to dig deep to cover the cost of a more than a few strip sirloins and several bottles of breathtaking Beaujolais.

The Rookie Dinner is all about fun and frivolity, camaraderie among teammates, and creating a strong bond among players. Unfortunately, the night ended with a much different kind of bond, comprised of mostly 20's, 50's and 100's. 

The kind you need to get out of jail.

From Bern's steakhouse, a number of players headed over to Whiskey Park, a downtown Tampa nightclub. Around 3 a.m. a young woman noticed her purse missing.  Security officials found it in the hands of O'Byrne who, when confronted by Tampa Police, said the purse belonged to his girlfriend. 

It was quickly established that the purse belonged to the woman, who had no prior relationship with the rookie, and he was quickly ushered into the back seat of a police cruiser for allegedly snatching the handbag.

This is when Tom Kostopoulos stepped in, allegedly trying to come to the aid of his friend. He did not back off when police told him to and both men were hauled away to a very different kind of penalty box. O'Byrne was charged with grand theft—a felony—and Kostopoulos with resisting an officer. 

Both posted bail and were back at practice by the afternoon.

In time, the circumstances of the night will be made clear. According to police in Tampa, it's likely the two will only be fined, O'Byrne dodging any jail time other than the time already spent behind bars.

Thing is, all of this could have been avoided.

The Canadiens are coming off two very embarrassing losses to Toronto and Ottawa, falling flat when they should have been fighting like hell. In the last week, the team has been within striking distance of first in the East, only to topple down to fourth, five points behind the Senators and five points ahead of eighth place Boston.  

After the 6-1 trouncing by the Sens, one would think coach Guy Carbonneau would be reminding his players—with some very forceful language—what's at stake and, perhaps, demanding an extra skate or two as crunch-time approaches.

Arguably, the team needs some downtime and that's what the Rookie Dinner was supposed to be all about. It probably did more to inspire the team to take on the Conference in a way no extra skate ever could.

The way the night ended, however, could have some long term effects on the team and, had Carbonneau GM Bob Gainey insisted on a curfew and an early morning practice, O'Byrne and Kostopoulos and the entire team could focus on the game ahead, not the night prior.

You can bet if the Canadiens come away from this Florida road trip with no wins and no points, questions are going to be raised about the team's run at the Cup and no porterhouse steak and full-bodied wine is going to make anyone feel better.