After practice today, Kings president and general manager Dean Lombardi met with a group of beat reporters in his office to discuss Slava Voynov’s arrest and suspension.

Here is the first half of the transcript of what Lombardi said…

DEAN LOMBARDI

(On when and how he found out about Voynov…)

“Yesterday morning, from (team executive Jeff Solomon). … There’s phone calls going on. You’ve got NHL security and the league, Bill Daly, is calling. I don’t even know the time sequence.”

(On whether he has seen or spoken to Voynov…)

“No. I think, obviously given the situation, you’ve got to let the process go through. I know Darryl went over there and spoke to him, as the coach. Right now, I think you’ve just got to let this process go through.”

(On whether he was surprised that the NHL suspended Voynov…)

“No.”

(On whether they explained their thought process…)

“They don’t need to explain. I think it’s pretty self-evident. There’s always that line of, innocent until proven guilty. That’s where the rub is. Are you surprised with what they did, particularly in this climate? No. Is it appropriate, considering he hasn’t been… In the old days, before this, you saw the other cases and leagues would always say, wait a minute, there’s a criminal process that has to take place before they can react. The NBA had nine cases in the last three years. You saw that in baseball at that time, with Albert Belle and Canseco. So it was always, that was the way it was handled, that it was a criminal thing, let it play out. Even the players played, because we were going under the premise of innocent until proven guilty. That, now, has obviously changed from the old days. Which, I get it. So to say I’m surprised they acted that way, no. Do I think it’s inappropriate? No. If you act swiftly, you’re in danger of saying, well, he hasn’t been proven guilty, but that’s clearly the way the leagues are headed right now. The charge, itself, is enough to take action. In the past, it wasn’t.”

(On what the suspension actually means to the Kings…)

“That’s the thing. I’ve got a conference call today. That’s where it all gets gray here. There’s so many things. Slava certainly has his rights. Then you have the process with the police and their investigation. Then you have the league and their investigation. Then you’ve got the issues of, OK, how long does this go? So we’re kind of in limbo until this process plays out. In the meantime, that obviously has ramifications. Do we recall a player? What are the implications on the cap? What’s the shortest he could be (suspended)? If he’s found not guilty, does that still mean he’s suspended? There are so many issues here right now. I’ve got a call today, but even then I don’t expect a lot of answers. For the NHL, probably, this is kind of new turf, and it’s new turf for a lot of leagues, because the old system was, play until the criminal system does its thing. So now, what do you do with all this gray out there, particularly in a cap era where it’s not easy to recall players and deal with things. We’ll have to start dealing with it.”

(On whether there had been any previous discipline issues with Voynov…)

“No. Nothing at all. Nope. He’s never been late for practice even. This is a kid who, he could have made more money in junior hockey, and his father was really struggling. This is a kid who kept his word, in terms of how he handled that. I thought that was really impressive, that a kid would do that, particularly with what he was up against. Actually, it was on the other side of the ledger, anything involving things that you might consider character issues away from the rink. Even after we drafted him, he kept his word about coming over here right away, when he could have made a ton more money in Russia. All his character checks were on the positive side.”

(On how this will impact the team dynamic…)

“I think that’s a question for the players. I think this is a different challenge. I think this is a team that has met every possible challenge. The way they’re playing right now is another challenge. But they’ve always met those challenges. This is one of a different sort, because it involves something that effects the team that clearly had to do with outside the rink. But I would expect them to figure it out. It’s a different challenge. It’s something new for them. It’s something that is very different than being in an eight-game losing streak and pucks going in off the back of the net. This has personal implications, obviously, with someone they’re very close to, who has never had issues before. Now, clearly, looking at it strictly on the ice, it hurts this team that he’s not in the lineup. My guess is, they’re going to meet this challenge like they’ve met every other one.

“I think there’s something that might be said for this, that it might make them stronger. I hate to use the word `lesson,’ because if you use that, then you’re presuming guilt, and that’s the problem with even talking about anything like this right now, while all this is going on. But I think it’s safe to say that even with the appearance of impropriety, now we know what the ramifications are. If you’re a professional athlete, when things go good, they make video games of you. When things go bad, it’s a heightened standard. Without indicting anybody, I think that’s a lesson that probably constantly needs to be reinforced. I think it’s really brought home right now, from a personal standpoint, with a friend and a teammate.

“This is the kind of stuff that, in the old days, they used to sweep it under the rug. Baseball has had this problem. How long have they had it? Darryl Strawberry, Albert Belle, Jose Canseco. It went right under the rug. Well, it ain’t happening that way anymore, boys. Even when you’re not guilty. That’s why it’s dangerous saying that, because you’re assuming I think he’s guilty. But we’ve always said that, that public figures are held to a higher standard, and it’s even the appearance of impropriety. We’re all — including me and the coaches — we’ve all got something to learn from this. In the end, there’s the chance to make us stronger without, in any way, condoning this, depending on how the outcome comes out. But just being here right now is a lesson.’’

(On whether he has talked to the team as a group…)

“No. Darryl talked to them. I talked to a few players. But see, I have to be careful. I just tried to get a general idea of what happened. Until the investigation is done, I don’t want to get stuff piecemeal. I want to let these people go through the process. I think the message right now is basically, you guys have to pull it together. It’s another challenge. It’s very different and we’ve got to learn from this.”

(On the investigation…)

“Obviously, the police have to do their job. That has started. And the league has its thing. You’re still in uncharted waters here. You look at the CBA and stuff. There isn’t strict stuff about, OK, this happens and this happens. Then you’ve got the whole issue of, let’s just say there is no resolution, in terms of a court date or whatever. So what does that mean for the league? Looking at it in the past, with other guys, it was over in two or three days. There were never any charges filed and the guy is playing the next day. But obviously that, clearly, was to get it out of the way. Now you’re dealing with all this procedure. Now you’ve got league issues. You’ve got police issues. You’ve got team issues. You’ve got union issues. So when you’ve got so many issues involved, it’s like the Adrian Peterson thing. The union had to get involved. The agents had to get involved. The players are involved. The league is involved. The team is involved. So the (resolution) was the exempt list.”

(On whether any team sponsors have expressed concern…)

(answered by team vice president Michael Altieri…) “That’s a fair question. Not that I’m aware of at this time.”

(Lombardi:) “I think part of that is, I don’t think there’s any question we’re behind what the league has done. We don’t question what the understanding of what their job is. When you’ve seen that action taken before, I think it was more because the feeling was…my understanding is that when it came up in other instances, it was because maybe the team wasn’t behind what the league did. I don’t think that’s the case here.”

READ PART 2 HERE