“Hockey Scandal: Canadian Player Disqualified for Dangerous Play at World Championship”

The next day of the Ice Hockey World Championship (which was taken from Russia and given to Latvia and Finland) is another scandal, this time related to the discipline of the players and refereeing. The Austrians, for example, were very unhappy with the canceled goal in the match with the Finns (1:3) – he could have reduced the gap to a minimum and removed the goalkeeper in the end. And in the meeting between Canada and Switzerland, there was a case of blatant hooliganism.

In one of the episodes of this match, the Canadians striker Joe Veleno almost broke the leg of the star of the Swiss Nino Niederreiter. In the fight at the boards, trying to take possession of the puck, Veleno did not come up with anything better than how to step on the opponent’s foot with a swing – he made a chopping movement from top to bottom. Considering that today’s skates have a sharp edge and there are often cases of terrible wounds, Niederreiter could have been seriously injured. And it is quite logical that after the game a big scandal erupted, in which the Detroit forward was accused of boorish behavior, although the fans admitted that Niederreiter himself violated the rules during the fight.

«This has no place in hockey. This is simply unacceptable! It’s too dangerous, the blades of the skates are very sharp. He deliberately tried to hurt me, he could have broken my ankle. I hope he gets punished. Hockey is a tough sport, but you have to be a gentleman.”Niederreiter noted.

The arbitrators surprisingly did not see anything and removed the Swiss himself. And Veleno already had dubious experience on the international stage when he was disqualified for headbutting at the 2019 Youth World Championships. Probably, disqualification awaits him today.

“It was one of the most heinous fouls in recent times, it could have led to a serious injury. Fortunately, everything worked out and Niederreiter was able to turn his leg a little at the last moment. It is amazing that the judges sent off Niederreiter himself, and Canada scored a goal in the majority, ” – noted the observer of the Swiss edition of Watson Klaus Caugg.

“After this, you immediately need to be kicked off the ice! Kicking an opponent, whether it be a serious kick or just an imitation, is simply unacceptable. Such situations cannot be ignored. Such a moment just spoils the game, a serious mistake has occurred. The judges had a bad day, serious work needs to be done on such mistakes“, – said the former judge Tommi Laaksonenwho retired in 2018.

And according to the words Reto Raiffeinera member of the IIHF International Council, the actions of Joe Veleno will be considered by the disciplinary committee.

However, the Montreal native’s boorish act against Niederreiter did not help Canada win. The Maple Leaf team was defeated 2-3, while Switzerland won the fifth match in a row and confirmed their status as one of the main favorites for this World Cup.

As for the history of severe injuries after cuts by skates, it is quite large. The most recent incident occurred in November 2022, when the Edmonton forward Evander Kane received a serious cut from the skate of Patrick Maroon from Tampa – a large pool of blood immediately appeared on the ice, and the victim had to undergo surgery on his wrist. And from the Russians, a defender had a similar injury Andrey Markovwho in October 2009 received it at his gate – goalkeeper Carey Price accidentally stepped on his foot and cut his tendon.

UPD. On Sunday evening, it became known that the disciplinary commission of the World Cup disqualified the Canadian striker Joe Veleno for five games. He will not play in this tournament again.