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.