Los Angeles Kings defenseman Slava Voynov has been suspended indefinitely from all club activities pending a formal investigation by the National Hockey League of an arrest this morning on charges of domestic violence.
The suspension was imposed under Section 18-A.5 of the Collective Bargaining Agreement, which provides that, during the pendency of a criminal investigation, “The League may suspend the Player pending the League’s formal review and disposition of the matter where the failure to suspend the Player during this period would create a substantial risk of material harm to the legitimate interests and/or reputation of the League.”
Voynov, who will continue to be paid during the pendency of the investigation, was arrested for California Penal Code section 273.5, Domestic Violence.
More to come throughout the day.
Update, 8:20 AM: Prior to the Kings-Sharks season opener, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman was asked about the league’s policy on domestic violence in light of the cases that the NFL has handled this year.
Bettman’s response:
“That’s something that we’ve been doing with the Players’ Association for more than a decade. We, as a league, have more than enough authority and mechanisms to punish, if necessary, in the appropriate case. Fortunately, we haven’t seen too many. But, more importantly, we focus on counseling and education, and in the joint programs we have with the players’ association, we’ve been counseling and educating on domestic violence for more than a decade – probably more than a decade; I don’t remember the exact date. The security department does it in their annual meetings with each team, and then behavioral counselors from the substance abuse, behavioral health program also counsel and educate the players on those and many other issues. So I’m not sure for is if for us there’s any need for any code of conduct other than our players who overwhelming conduct themselves magnificently off the ice, you deal with it on a case-by-case basis. I don’t think we need to formalize anything more. Our players know what’s right and wrong, and as I’ve said, we have the mechanisms in place to hopefully not get to that point.”
Update, 9:50 AM: NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly spoke with The Hockey News via email and said that “the landscape has changed” when comparing Voynov’s domestic violence charges with the incident that involved Colorado goaltender Semyon Varlamov last year.
“I think the landscape has changed for all of us over the past six months,” Daly said in an email to thn.com. “But that’s not the only reason for the difference in treatment. Circumstances were different in Varlamov. I can’t get more specific than that.”
Obviously he’s referring in part to the NFL’s poor handling on several domestic violence cases, including those involving Ray Rice and Adrian Peterson. As Daly noted, circumstances are different in the two cases, and more of it should be expected to come to light as details emerge.
Update; 10:35 AM:
Statement from Craig Renetzky, who said he is representing Voynov: pic.twitter.com/2ty0TWBel2
— Rich Hammond (@Rich_Hammond) October 20, 2014
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