Is the Panarin story a hatchet job?
With the breaking news that Artemi Panarin has been accused of assaulting an 18 year old girl in Russia a decade ago, there have been reports that the story is politically motivated. The New York Rangers put out a statement calling it a “fabricated story” and Panarin categorically denied all of the allegations. Here is some background worth considering.
As noted in the New York Post article, the man making the accusation is Andrei Nazarov who has been vocal in his criticism of Panarin for the Rangers’ speaking out about Vladimir Putin. Nazarov is currently a KHL coach who played 12 years in the NHL for seven different teams. He was more of a goon that your typical Russian import topping the 200 penalty minute mark three times in his NHL career.
He is currently the coach of Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk in the KHL and is known as the “Russian Mike Keenan.”
He also coached Brys in the KHL as well as the Ukrainian national team and he served a a joint coach of the Russian national team. The incident alleged occurred when Nazarov was Panarin’s coach with the Vityaz Chekhov team. It’s a well known fact that Russian President Vladimir Putin has a vested interest in the Russian national team.
The Nazarov interview
Here is the interview that Nazarov did about the incident. It is a Google translation from the sports.ru website and was published Monday.
Nazarov: -“In Riga on December 11, 2011, our Vityaz team lost to the local Dynamo 2-0. Panarin managed to shoot at goal only a few times during the whole match. It seems that he saved energy for the evening “feats”.
Q: Did you leave Riga immediately after the match for reasons of economy?
Nazarov: “We were to fly to Minsk in the morning. Most of the hockey players went to rest by their numbers. Except for a few legionnaires and Artemy.”
Q: Decided to relax?
Nazarov: “Walked in the bar of the Radisson Hotel. Moreover, during the evening rest, he somehow did not like the young visitor of the institution. Our forward sent an 18-year-old citizen of Latvia to the floor with several powerful blows.”
Q: Is the reason known?
Nazarov: “It’s hard to say now. After beating the girl, he hurried to the room. And he asked to bring his teammate Misha Anisin, who, unlike Artemy, ordered only juice at the bar. But the police arrived quickly. Panarin was detained. They drew up a protocol.”
Q: Criminal case shone?
Nazarov: “Case, court and real time. But respected residents of Riga stood up for Panarin. Negotiations were held with the police authorities. I did not participate in the negotiations, but I heard about the figure of 40 thousand euros in cash for putting the brakes on the case.”
Q: As a coach, did you have an educational conversation?
Nazarov: “Yes, but this is not the main thing. We did not even apologize to the parents of the girl who suffered from Panarin, and to her herself. But they did everything to prevent our rising star from thundering into jail. Didn’t ruin a career.”
Q: But the prison could ruin.
Nazarov: “It happens differently. But what is now clear is that we were wrong then. Artemy did not deserve to be saved from punishment by the whole world for the fact that he beat the girl.”
Q: Well, if I stumbled – it doesn’t happen to anyone …
Nazarov: “So if only once. But there was also theft from the pockets of his own teammates in the children’s team. And he himself later talked about it. And the willingness to raise a hand against the weak. And provocations – albeit verbal – of recent years in his social networks.”
It’s clear that Nazarov has hard feelings towards Panarin, whether it is about the incident or for his views about Russian politics is unclear. He manages to accuse Panarin of stealing from teammates and also draws attention to the social media comments that have been negative about the Putin regime.
The Lenta story
The story was immediately picked up in the mainstream press and published on the Lenta website, a popular news site in Russia. Here is the entire text of the story as printed in the Lenta website, translation via Google.
“Former Vityaz coach Andrei Nazarov accused the ex-striker of the Moscow Region club, and now the New York Rangers striker Artemiy Panarin , of beating an 18-year-old girl. It is reported by Komsomolskaya Pravda. According to the specialist, the incident took place in December 2011 in Riga after the match with the local Dynamo . The player, along with several legionnaires, went to the bar. There, for unknown reasons, he struck a Latvian citizen several times. After that, the hockey player was detained by the police.
According to Nazarov, authoritative residents of Riga stood up for Panarin, who negotiated with law enforcement officers and were able to hush up the story. The trainer noted that he had heard about the amount of 40 thousand euros in cash. Panarin has been playing in the National Hockey League (NHL) since 2015. In July 2019, he signed a seven-year contract with the Rangers for $ 81.5 million. The forward is the highest paid Russian in the league.” – Lenta.ru website
The website
Some information worth noting. The story above appeared today in the Russian website Lenta. It is a popular news source for Russians with about 600k visitors daily. The Lenta article cited a report in a Ukraining newspaper, Komsomolskaya Pravda, but we couldn’t find that story about Panarin on the Pravda website.
While Lenta is a popular news source in Russia, it is not without controversy. Known as an independent news organization, in 2014 the editor-in-chief was fired along with 39 of 84 employees. According to Wikipedia, the fired employees issued a statement that “the purpose of the move was to install a new Editor-in-Chief directly controlled by the Kremlin and turn the website into a propaganda tool. ”
Those employees started their own internet paper called Meduza.
A hatchet job?
The Rangers responded to the news of the accusation with a statement via Twitter.
— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) February 22, 2021
While any accusation of assault has to be taken seriously, it is important for the Rangers and Panarin to get to the bottom of these accusations. The fact that Nazarov is the source is interesting in itself as Panarin and Nazarov have a history.
According to a Hockey News article from 2016, when Nazarov was his coach with Chekhov Vityaz, Nazarov’s style of play involved more fisticuffs than skill. Panarin obviously didn’t do well in that environment.
In a 2015 interview on the Sports.ru website, he spoke about Nazarov and his coaching style. Panarin was positive at first, saying “It instills confidence in the players. When he says that you are a good hockey player, immediately there is a great desire to train and work.”
But he did point out that Nazarov was wrong in his assessment of Panarin’s future. “Once he was interviewed, and the boys and I were sitting in the locker room. They asked if I was promising? He said, promising, but it is clear that he will spend the next 10-15 years in the KHL. I was just starting to play and for me it was such a trash. I think: ’15 years in the KHL, well, generally a bomb.’ But he was wrong.”
He concluded with a jab at Nazarov, who had just been named coach of SKA. “In SKA, the guys will have fun at the meetings. When I played at Vityaz, sometimes I did not even understand what he explained there, because the whole meeting was holding on not to laugh.”
What’s next
Panarin is taking a leave from the team to deal with these accusations. The Rangers are standing behind him 100%. What has to be determined is whether this is anything more than a politically motivated attack by a Putin sympathizer or whether there is a legitimate basis for the accusation.
Unfortunately, considering the political climate in Russia and the fact that Panarin is one of the only Russian players to speak out about issues like censorship, the imprisonment of Alexei Navalny and support for the protests backing Navalny, any information coming from “official” sources in Russia has to be questioned.
A bigger issue perhaps is the NHL’s domestic violence policy. While there is no written policy, the Collective Bargaining Agreement addresses the issue. In Article 18-A of the CBA, the Commissioner can impose discipline on a player “has been or is guilty of conduct (whether during or outside the playing season) that is detrimental to or against the welfare of the League or the game of hockey.”
If the authorities in Russia choose to pursue an investigation into this incident, the NHL many have no choice but to suspend Panarin until such an investigation is resolved. It’s a sticky wicket for the NHL and Commissioner Gary Bettman involving one of the league’s highest profile players.
If it is is an intimidation tactic, the sad thing is that by forcing Panarin to step away from the game, however temporary, they have already achieved their goal.
Related Story. Panarin to step away. light