The Elite League has banned Rick Kozak (and incidentally Cardiffs Brad Voth) for lengthy amounts of time after incidents which occured last weekend.Kozak has been handed a 10 game ban (plus 10 games suspended) whilst Voth has been given 12 games (with a further 12 suspended).
Kozak was involved in an altercation with Nottinghams Marc Levers which resulted in Levers requiring 25 stitches to his forehead. Kozak, who is entering his first season in Britain, was officially given 6 games for sucker punching an opponent and 4 games for bringing the game into disrepute.
An Elite league official had this to say in an official press release:
"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.”Games Kozak will miss:
"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 are a professional sport however, also 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.”
13/09 Cardiff (A)
20/09 Coventry (H) CC
21/09 Edinburgh (A)
27/09 Sheffield (A)
28/09 Nottingham (H) CC
04/10 Sheffield (H)
11/10 Nottingham (H)
12/10 Coventry (A)
18/10 Basingstoke (A)
19/10 Edinburgh (H)
He will return to action against the Newcastle Vipers on the 25th October, although the Hull Daily Mail is already speculating that there will be an appeal to shorten the ban.
The Elite League has set the tone with these two bans, which it is hoped, will deter any further incidents. All said and done, Kozaks ban is a huge blow (albeit probably a fair one) to the Stingrays hopes this season. To view the eventful game from last Sunday v Nottingham, tune in to Sky Sports 3 on Friday 12th September for the full game, re-live.
