Rangers’ Artemi Panarin finally speaks, but says little about abuse allegations

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Upon his return to Rangers after his leave of absence at the end of February, Artemi Panarin promised he would speak in more detail about his reason for leaving at the end of the season. But he did not speak to the media on the day of the virtual breakup and, through a spokesperson for the team, promised he would address the issue over the summer.

It didn’t happen either.

So when Panarin spoke to local media on Day 3 of Rangers training camp on Saturday, the first thing he was asked was if he had anything to share about why he felt necessary. to walk away from the squad for nine games during the crucial period. while he fought a long drawn out battle to qualify for the playoffs.

However, he preferred to look ahead rather than look back.

“I think more about the [upcoming] season than remembering what happened last season, Panarin said through a translator. “I know I said it wasn’t really a secret, and that I would tell everyone. I was a little lazy to do [that] last summer, but now is not really the time to talk about it.

Panarin left Rangers on February 22 following the publication of an article on a Russian sports website in which one of his former coaches accused him of physically assaulting a woman in a hotel bar in Latvia after a game there in 2011. The article came out over a month after Panarin published an Instagram post in favor of Alexi Navalny, a political opponent of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The coach, former NHL player Andrei Nazarov, was known to be a Putin supporter, and the Rangers then released a statement saying that Panarin “vehemently and unequivocally denied the allegations in the story.” for his outspokenness on recent political events, he said.

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The Rangers then gave Panarin, their leading scorer with 18 points in 14 games at the time, indefinite leave. He joined the team for practice in Boston on March 10 and returned to the roster on March 13, in a nationally televised afternoon game against the Bruins that the Rangers won. 4-0. The team went 4-5-0 in all nine games it missed.

Panarin was asked if he was now afraid to make political statements following this episode, but insisted that “the whole situation is not really about political discourse and said that no outside force is told him not to talk about politics. He said it was his choice to get away from politics.

Regarding the Olympics next February, Panarin said he had not heard from the Russian hockey federation if he was on the country’s list of players eligible to participate in the Olympic tournament. If he is selected, he said, he will play.

“I would be more than happy to do that, he said.“ It is a great honor to play for the team. And it’s a big event, the Olympic Games.

On Saturday, it was also the first time Panarin spoke to local media since the incident on May 3 when he was hit without a helmet on the ice by Washington Capitals forward Tom Wilson during a game. at Madison Square Garden. Wilson was not punished by the NHL for the incident, and two days later, hours before the Rangers face the Capitals again in the second of two games at the Garden, Rangers president John Davidson and general manager Jeff Gorton were fired by team owner James Dolan. The Rangers and Capitals fought six times in the game that night, including three on puck release in the first face-off. Brendan Smith fought Wilson.

Panarin, who suffered an injury in the incident that made him miss the rest of the season, said he appreciated “the gesture the team made in fighting to avenge Wilson’s attack on him .

Colin Stephenson covers Rangers for Newsday. He has spent over two decades covering the NHL and pretty much every sports team in the New York metro area.

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