From the CBC :

Montreal Canadiens defenceman Ryan O’Byrne (above) and forward Tom Kostopoulos were arrested outside a South Tampa nightclub early Monday.

O’Byrne, 23, was charged with grand theft, while Kostopoulos, 29, was charged with resisting an officer without violence, CBC News has learned.

Both players were arrested around 3 a.m. local time outside a bar named Whiskey Park and spent the night in custody, but were released Monday morning after posting bail. O’Byrne’s bail was set at $2,000, while Kostopoulos paid $500.

The Canadiens, who play the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday night, declined to comment until after their 4 p.m. practice.

The situation involving the players arose when a woman set her purse on the counter top inside the bar and then noticed it was missing before alerting security. The bar’s bouncers allegedly saw O’Byrne outside with the purse and the woman’s cellphone in his hands. He was questioned by police.

“They approached him and asked him what he was doing with her cellphone and her purse. He said it was his girlfriend’s purse. They asked him what his girlfriend’s name was and he couldn’t provide the name of his girlfriend,” Tampa Police Department spokesperson Andrea Davis told the CBC.

Do we have to wait for Kansas City to be granted an NHL franchise for Jason Whitlock to finally address the criminal subculture that permeates the locker rooms of professional hockey’s highest level? It’s a slippery slope from cranking a Hinder CD to purse snatching, and I cannot understand the deafening silence from sports media’s sole voice of conscience.