National Post (National Edition)
I jokingly said to Alexis yesterday that he's seen more drama and generally just wild unorthodox things happening in his first two months of the season than I've ever experienced in the last decade or so that I've been here.
PANARIN CASE THE LATEST SIDESHOW
— CHRIS KREIDER ON A WEIRD SEASON FOR THE
Madison Square Garden is home to the New York Rangers. But for many, many years, it was also home to the biggest show on earth.
Back when Ringling Bros. Circus was practically living out of the hockey arena, it wasn't unusual to see exotic elephants trampling on the ice or acrobats dangling on a wire high above the scoreboard. The circus was so important to the city that it once forced the Rangers to play the entire 1928 Stanley Cup Final on the road and regularly pushed back the start time of home games.
Those days are long gone. But unfortunately for the Rangers, the circus still lives on.
The regular season is only five weeks old, but this has already been a weird year for the New York team. On the ice, the Rangers are in sixth place in the East Division and struggling in all areas. Mika Zibanejad, who had 41 goals and 75 points in 57 games last year, has two goals and two assists in 16 games. Alexis Lafreniere and Kaapo Kakko, who were the No. 1 and No. 2 picks in the past two drafts, have combined for five points.
But it's the off-ice drama that has consumed the city.
Earlier this month, the team decided to cut ties with Tony DeAngelo after the talented, young defenceman got into a post-game altercation with Rangers goalie Alexandar Georgiev following a loss. Some reports suggest that DeAngelo got physical with Shesterkin and that forward Chris Kreider stepped in and punched DeAngelo in the face. Either way, a 25-year-old who finished in the top-5 among defencemen in points last season was placed on waivers and kicked off the team.
If that wasn't bad enough, the Rangers suffered an even bigger blow earlier this week when leading scorer Artemi Panarin took a personal leave of absence after a report out of Russia alleged that he had physically assaulted a teenaged woman while playing in the KHL a decade ago. Both the Rangers and Panarin have denied the allegations, which come from a former coach and could be politically motivated.
“I jokingly said to Alexis (Lafreniere) yesterday that he's seen more — for a lack of a better term — drama and generally just wild unorthodox things happening in his first two months of the season than I've ever experienced in the last decade or so that I've been here,” Kreider said. “That's just the state of the world. It's been strange. It's been a weird year.”
“Unfortunate” might be a better way of describing all that has gone on this year.
This was supposed to be a season where the rebuilding Rangers took a step up in the standings. Few expected that they would be good enough to make the playoffs. But most believed that they could be competitive. Instead, it's been a year of putting out one fire after another.
And there's still another 10 weeks to go.
“One of the things sports does is it really gives you a chance to show how mentally tough you are,” head coach David Quin said. “And that's something that we're getting tested on … sports is all about how you handle adversity. That really dictates to guys who are successful individually and teams that are successful. That's something we have to face and that's something that we have to conquer.”
The Panarin news is troubling because we don't know what is truth and what is political payback for speaking out against Russian President Vladimir Putin.
A year ago, Panarin was a Hart Trophy finalist and considered to be the best Russian hockey player in the world. As such, his profile had grown. And the 29-yearold decided to use that newfound stature to voice his displeasure with a government that was accused of poisoning and imprisoning its biggest critics in Alexei Navalny.
It didn't go unnoticed. After Panarin showed support on his Instagram account for Navalny, Panarin's former KHL coach Andrei Nazarov criticized Panarin's outspoken beliefs and suggested he be arrested the next time he showed up in Russia. This week, he gave a legitimate reason. In an interview with a Russian newspaper, Nazarov alleged that Panarin physically once assaulted an 18-year-old woman in Latvia back in 2011.
A criminal case was launched in Latvia, but Nazarov claims someone paid to make it go away. Panarin was then traded a month later to another team.
“Artemi vehemently and unequivocally denies any and all allegations in this fabricated story,” the Rangers said in a statement on Monday. “This is clearly an intimidation tactic being used against him for being outspoken on recent political events.”
The NHL and the Rangers are both looking into the allegations. But Russian hockey writer Slava Malamud said he doesn't expect them to find much in the way of proof. Based on what he's already investigated, the allegations don't seem plausible.
“Could this have happened? Anything is possible,” Malamud, who is based in Baltimore, told Postmedia news. “But there is no corroborating evidence. The dates are all wrong. They said someone paid 40,000 euros. In 2011, the euro wasn't even a currency in Latvia. All of it smacks of pretty hastily and sloppy handiwork.”
Malamud, who compared Nazarov to “a Russian version of Rush Limbaugh,” also said the former NHL player-turned-coach has a history of playing with the truth in an attempt to get in the good graces of the Russian government.
“I just think Nazarov is trying to present himself as this great patriot,” said Malamud. “Now that Panarin has come out in support of Navalny, that puts him out there more because Putin hates him passionately. ”
As for the Rangers, they're anxiously waiting for Panarin's return and hopeful that they can make it through a season that is turned into a circus.
“At the end of the day, we just want to see him healthy and happy,” said Kreider. “Whenever he does come back, we'll welcome him with open arms.”