Canadian Forward Joe Veleno has been handed a 5-game suspension by the 2023 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship Disciplinary Panel for violating Official Playing Rule 49 (Kicking). The incident occurred during Canada’s 3-2 loss to Switzerland at the tournament.
The suspension means that Veleno will miss Canada’s next five games, effectively ending his tournament. At a minimum, he will be absent for his team’s game against Norway on Tuesday, May 23, 2023. He’ll also be unable to participate in the Canadian National Team’s quarter-final game on Thursday, May 25, 2023, should they qualify for that stage or subsequent rounds this year.
The incident took place at the 8:48 mark of the second period as Veleno and Swiss captain Nino Niederreiter battled for a puck along the boards.
Veleno had recorded 5pts (2G, 3A) through 5 contests at the tournament prior to the suspension, good for 19th place amongst all skaters. The Detroit Red Wings forward was coming off his most productive NHL season to date, recording 9G and 11A through 81 games in 2022-23.
With only 56 career PIMs across 3 seasons at the NHL level, the 23 year old is far from a “dirty player”, however the replay of the incident leaves little room for interpretation as to whether there was a stomping motion involved in the puck battle. Of note however, Veleno has been previously suspended on the international level after being sidelined in 2019 for a headbutt at the World Juniors.
“It does not belong in our sport. You can’t do it. It’s too dangerous, the blades are extremely sharp,” Niederreiter said postgame to Swiss reporters. “He tried to go into the battle to hurt me and almost broke my ankle.”
Others from around the hockey world, including Edmonton Oilers forward Evander Kane were also quick to condemn the action in the hours after the game.
Depending on how far Canada advances in the tournament will determine how many additional games beyond this year’s event Veleno will need to sit out. The IIHF will ensure that the Montreal, QC native will serve the remainder of his suspension at future international events should he be chosen to represent his country again.
-Kyle Skinner
Twitter: @JKyleSkinner
Photo: s.yume. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.