SHEFFIELD,U.K-The highly anticipated 2008-2009 Elite league season finally got underway, and didn’t disappoint as fans gathered all over the UK to get the first glimpse of thier team in full on action. The opening weekend of the season had shock results, great goals and suspensions handed out.
On Sunday September 7 2008, the Cardiff Devils hosted the defending playoff champions, the Sheffield Steelers at their new home the Cardiff Bay arena. Fans filled the building to watch a great rivalry between the two teams.
Brad Voth public enemy number one (Photo by Mark Tredgold)
The Sheffield Steelers won the game 2-0 thanks to two great goals by Joey Talbot, helping lead the Steelers to thier first shutout of the season. But the game will be remembered for something other than the result. The Devils well and truly threw their toys out of the pram, as the game was marred by an incident involving captain Brad Voth, and Steelers defenseman Randy Dagenais.
The 6’5″ Alberta native sparked a brawl, with what was believed by the Steelers organisation and fans as an attempt to injure Dagenais on the boards with a late hit, leading with his elbow.
Dagenais recalls the incident. “I think there was about 40 seconds to go in the game, we were 2-0 up and on the power play, so really it was game over, the puck came out of their zone and I remember just skating over to throw it back in then out of the corner of my eye I saw Voth coming at full speed, I just managed to get out of the way and heard him just crunch into the boards,” Dagenais said “The guys say that his elbow missed by millimetres, if he had connected I guess they would still be peeling me off the ice.”
This account from a fellow professional underlines the severity of the hit, which could have had serious consequences for the Steelers player.
Luckily Dagenais managed to avoid the hit as team-mates alerted him to the danger by shouting “heads up” just in time for the defenseman to act and protect himself. Dagenais carried on in the play, only to find Voth pursuing him down the ice trying to instigate a fight with him, which Dagenais wanted no part of.
The Steelers blueliner didn’t have much choice as he was slashed viciously across the legs, and sucker punched from behind in an unprovoked attack by the Devils 225 pound power forward.
Dagenais was fuming about the incident as he explains. “I skated back to pick the puck up and just felt the slash across the back of my legs, the guys say it was a full baseball swing, then I got a punch on the back of the head before I could turn around, we then grappled and I just tried to get a good hold of him but by god he is so big and strong and it took me everything to hang in there,” Dagenais said “The worst thing is that he gauged my eye, a look like a racoon right now, the whole thing was totally unprovoked.”
Just another day at work (Photo by Mark tredgold)
Voths catalogue of assaults continued, last season Voth injured the Steelers Jeff Legue with a late mid-ice hit, which kept the forward out for nine games, legue was fortunate not to be injured more seriously as he saw the hit coming, but was too late to avoid the Devils freight train. On September 8 2007, Voth was involved in an altercation with the Steelers Ashley Tait, which resulted in Voth being ejected on a 5+ game penalty for slashing.
Brad Voth was also involved in another incident with the same player on Boxing Day 2007. Tait was left unconscious on the ice after a vicious late check to the head from Devil Voth. The hit left Tait with a concussion, and Voth received a six game suspension.
Voth has also been involved in several incidents with other teams. One incident involved the Belfast Giants, as current General Manager Todd Kelman recalls. “My one run in with Voth was three years ago when he ran George Awada from behind and George was laying on the ice, I was the nearest player and I did what any good teammate would do and I dropped my stick and gloves and went into grab a hold of Voth,” Kelman said “Lets be honest, I had every intention of getting my ass kicked by him, Im no idiot, but still thats what you do when you are a team, its better to take a beating for a teammate than to skate by him and leave your captain and buddy laying on the ice.”
“So I drop my stick and gloves and go at Voth, the man who towers above me, and the guy who is supposed to be one of the toughest guys in the league, What does he do? He doesn’t drop his gloves and beat me up, like he should have, he cross-checks me right in the face with all the force that a 6’5″ tough guy can get behind a cross check to the face,” Kelman said “I lose four teeth and get 10 stitches, he gets a one game (I think) suspension, one game? he should have gotten ten for that.”
Voth is now facing the consequences of his actions, as he is sitting out a 12 game ban, six of which for the sucker punch, and six for the slash. Voth has also got a further 12 games suspended, so if a similar incident happened in the same season he would automatically face a further 12 game suspension.
The same weekend as the Voth saga, there was another incident in the Hull Stingrays versus Nottingham Panthers game, which saw the Stingrays, Rick Kozak receive a ten game suspension in another sucker punching incident.
A league spokesman commented on both incidents. “Ice hockey is a very physical sport as everyone is well aware, and occasionally tempers flare and there are flashpoint incidents. However, the games last Sunday saw incidents that we feel are beyond what is the normally acceptable in terms of physical contact and we felt the need to adjudicate strongly,”
“A lot of discussion took place over the summer recruiting period about teams bringing in players to ‘entertain’ and we have no problem with that philosophy.We acknowledge that we are all in the entertainment business but there are limits to what is and what is not acceptable. After extensive video review, the incidents involving both Rick Kozak and Brad Voth have been deemed as being unacceptable, and it is our duty to ensure that we send a message to all the clubs, the coaching staff and all the players as to what will not be tolerated.”
Both teams appealed against the decision, but the bans were upheld, thus restoring some much needed consistency in the league regarding disciplinary procedures. The league needs to send a message out that possible career ending injuries will not be tolerated, and the Elite League doesn’t want to be tarnished with the reputation of being a goon league much like the LNAH in Canada.
League Chairman Eamon Convery addressed the situation. “No one wishes to see players suspended, however if a player acts in a manner which is contrary to the league regulations they will find themselves subjected to disciplinary action,” Convery said “These are stiff suspensions, which ought to act as a clear warning to players, coaches and clubs.”
Some say Voth got what he deserved, and others feel that the ban is a mockery of the league, and believe Steelers dominance in the league and their reputation, helped influence the decision.
The evidence is there for all to see, and Voths history has finally caught up with him, the whole episode has renewed the rivalry and past hostilities between the two clubs, which could make for an interesting and eventful season.
Read Aled Lloyd’s not guilty defense. Contact the author at Scott.antcliffe@prohockeynews.com
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