Five former teammates of Artemi Panarin have now told The Post that they have never heard of the accusations of attack against the star wing of Rangers by their former KHL coach.
Andrei Nazarov, who coached the Vityaz 2011-12 team, recently told a Russian tabloid that Panarin beat an 18-year-old Latvian girl after losing her way in December 2011.
Maxim Sitnikov, who only played two games with Vityaz in 2011-12 but said he trained frequently with the active roster that season, told The Post that he had never heard of a physical altercation between his teammate and a woman. at a hotel bar. Riga, Latvia.
“There was no such thing!” said Sitnikov, who now trains 12-year-olds in Yaroslavl, Russia, after The Post reached him via Facebook Messenger.
“[Artemi] Panarin is a good person, friend and teammate! [Artemi] it is now a wide-ranging star and the brighter it plays, the more bastards will put their sticks in the wheels and say all kinds of nonsense! ”
The former Russian striker also played alongside Panarin on the Russian Knights of MKHL, which appears to be the team of the Vityaz farm.
Sitnikov, who retired from hockey due to a shoulder injury, said people like Panarin “can be counted on one hand”.
“The New York Rangers are very lucky to have such a player,” he said.
Sitnikov, 28, is Panarin’s most recent former teammate in that 2011-12 KHL season, when Nazarov claims that the alleged altercation took place, to tell The Post that he has not heard of such an incident. .
Another teammate, Mikhail Ansin, told Russian Sports-Express on Wednesday that there was an incident in Riga, Latvia, in 2011 that involved Panarin, but did not evolve as represented by Nazarov.
“Artemi didn’t beat anyone, maybe he pushed a girl a little, nothing more,” Ansin told Sports-Express.
Ansin also said that the police came to the team’s hotel, but left after establishing the incident did not justify the accusations. He also challenged Nazarov’s claim about paying the police, noting that the players did not have that kind of money at the time.
Arriving by phone on Tuesday, Jon Mirasty called the accusations of his former coach “fish” following Panarin’s speech against the regime of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Panarin has publicly shown his support for Russian opposition to Alexei Navalny since last month.
Nazarov, who made the accusation in an interview with the Russian publication Komsomolskaya Pravda, is a loyalist of Putin and demanded the closure of Russian players if they speak out against the country.
“I’m pretty sure I’d heard something like that, you know, being one of the older veteran players out there,” The Mirasty, a former Canadian forward, told the post. “I’ve never heard of such a thing, so I was a little surprised. Obviously, I’m not saying it didn’t happen, but if you guess, [it didn’t happen]. And why does it appear 10 years later? ”
In a statement to ESPN, KHL said it “did not know or receive a complaint about an incident involving Panarin in December 2011.”
The league also said that if it had received a complaint, it would have investigated “because we take seriously any accusation of misconduct,” according to ESPN.
Kip Brennan, a Canadian winger who spent five seasons in the NHL and played three games for the Islanders in 2007-08, told The Post over Facebook Messenger that he “did not know or have ever heard of such a thing.” .
“He was a great guy, he was hilarious in the locker room,” Brennan said. “He always worked in English with the North American boys and was a very talented young player.”
Two other former Vityaz teammates, who asked to remain anonymous, agreed with Mirasty and Brennan’s positions on the situation.