Los Angeles Kings defenseman Slava Voynov was arrested early this morning on charges of domestic violence, according to a report from the Washington Post.
The NHL has acted quickly in response, announcing via their website, NHL.com, that Voynov has been suspended indefinitely pending a formal investigation of the matter by the league.
The NHL's announcement states that, "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."
The league also announced that Voynov, who will continue to collect a paycheck during the investigation, was arrested for "California Penal Code section 273.5, Domestic Violence."
In an interview with USA Today Sports earlier this month, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman spoke about the recent rise in domestic violence issues in sports such as the NFL and how the NHL would handle a situation such Voynov's, were it to arise.
"[Domestic violence prevention] is something we've been doing with the Players' Association for more than a decade," Bettman told USA Today. "As a league, we have more than enough mechanism and authority to punish if necessary in the appropriate case. We haven't seen too many though. We focus on counselling and education with the Players Association. The NHL's Security Department does that each year in its meetings with each team."
The NHL acted quickly with Voynov, possibly due in part to the backlash from the Semyon Varlamov case from last season.
According to NBCSports, the Colorado goaltender was arrested on second-degree kidnapping and third-degree assault charges in October of last year. The league allowed Varlamov to continue playing despite the charges - he made a start only two days after his arrest.
The charges against Varlamov were eventually dropped - it's possible that the same happens to Voynov. But unless and until that happens, he won't be playing for the Kings again.
