LA Kings Violation Fines: Mistake or Carelessness

The Los Angeles Kings violated the terms of defenseman Slava Voynov‘s suspension. The National Hockey League announced that they will be fined $100,000 for not following what was supposed to be set for Voynov. Whose idea was it to think that it was okay to go against official word and act like nothing happened?

Voynov skated with the club today during practice. Even that kind of activity is a direct violation of the terms of suspension. The NHL was very strict on what the terms were involving Voynov and expected them to be followed with no issues. They have a statement on the fine saying, “Voynov skated with teammates today during a Club practice. Such activity is in direct contravention of the terms of the suspension levied Oct. 20, which permit Mr. Voynov to use club facilities and work with team personnel but prohibit his participation in any team-related functions or activities.”

Of course with him under the close watch of the public eye, especially with anyone involved in the hockey world, there was no way that he or the Kings club officials would have been able to get away with it without anyone saying anything or noticing.

Darryl Sutter explained the situation to LA Kings Insider, Jon Rosen and said, “It was an optional skate and everybody went. He’s supposed to come out after with the injured guys, right after practice. Everybody went today…”

Rosen even pointed out in his piece, “All the players on the team’s roster participated in the morning skate in advance of Tuesday’s game against the Boston Bruins.”

So if everybody went, doesn’t that mean that it should not have even be an option for Voynov because then he would be skating with teammates and participating in team activities? Maybe it was an accident or just pure carelessness from everyone involved but it is really not worth it to pull a completely boneheaded move and basically give away $100,000. Not only does this make Voynov look worse but the entire Kings franchise looks bad now also.

The Kings quickly responded to the news with a statement: “This was clearly a mistake on our part and we accept full responsibility. It is incumbent upon us to be more vigilant in managing this situation to ensure that Slava’s allowable training activities always remain separate from the team.”

This is a pretty big mistake to make and should not have even been made in the first place. Who knows if they were trying to test the waters out with how much they could get away with but they should have had better sense than that.

The whole problem started when Voynov was arrested back in October and after an investigation, was charged with “corporal injury to a spouse with great bodily injury.” He pleaded not guilty in court on Monday and a preliminary hearing is set for Dec. 15.