Young Vyacheslav Voynov was predicted to have a standout career in the NHL. In 2008, the Chelyabinsk Traktor graduate caught the attention of scouts from the Los Angeles Kings, one of the strongest teams of the last decade.
The defenseman’s business abroad immediately took off, but after winning the Stanley Cup, the hockey player’s career suddenly faded. The sudden drop occurred due to… the athlete’s arrest.
Since then, the Russian’s path to the NHL is closed.
A young NBA talent was arrested for hitting a girl. He surpassed LeBron’s all-time record.
Los Angeles Hero
In 2006, the young player began to defend the colors of the Chelyabinsk team. The promising hockey player quickly proved his worth in the KHL: his transition to the NHL was only a matter of time. Two years later, the hockey player was drafted by the Kings, after which he immediately moved to the United States.
Voynov spent his early years in the farm club Manchester Monarchs, until, thanks to the exchange of Jack Johnson for Columbus, a place for Vyacheslav in the main team of the “kings” was freed up. The Russian made his NHL debut on October 18, 2011 in a game against the St. Louis Blues. The first season was triumphant for him: together with the team, the defender won the Stanley Cup, which he then took home to Chelyabinsk.
Photo source: Sovsport Archive
In the 13/14 season, the hockey player won the coveted trophy for the second time, but this time as the star of the club. Voynov was seen as a future legend of the team, but all the successes were wiped out by a huge scandal. In October 2014, rumors began to actively spread that Vyacheslav was beating his wife Marta Varlamova.
Arrest and dismissal
The details of the incident were shocking. It emerged that the athlete attacked her wife during a party: he threw her to the ground and hit her, trying to strangle her three times. After that, he pushed her towards the TV, where she hurt her face. The wound required eight stitches. Voynov took his wife to the hospital, where law enforcement arrested him. Police found stains of the girl’s blood throughout the apartment.
During the process, the NHL decided to disqualify the defenseman, so Voynov only played six games this season. Soon the hockey player was sentenced to 90 days in prison and three years of probation, and was also fined $700,000.
The Club did not defend the player. In July 2015, the athlete went to prison, and then it became clear: Voinov’s career in the NHL had come to an end, although he formally remained a member of the club.
Photo source: NHL.com
Three months later, when Vyacheslav served his sentence, the immigration police took over his case. The Russian was threatened with deportation from the United States, but he finally decided not to wait for forced deportation and returned to his homeland of his own free will. His contract with the American club was first frozen and then terminated.
“It was obvious to us that the logical step in this process would be to terminate the contract. But the hockey player’s statement about his desire to leave the United States makes termination of the agreement optional, says a message posted on the club’s official website.
In Russia, the defender was not left without work: SKA St. Petersburg immediately signed him to the KHL, buying the rights to the player from the Chelyabinsk team. The player spent 3 years in the team with which he won the Gagarin Cup in the 2016/17 season. After that, he spent time at Avangard and Dynamo Moscow, and since 2022, Voinov represents Ak Bars.
Photo source: RIA Novosti
During the same period, Voynov continued to be called up by the Russian team, with which he won bronze at the 2016 World Cup, the 2018 Olympic Games in Pyeongchang and, four years later, another silver at the 2022 Beijing Games.
