Saprykin grounds flight

Oleg Saprykin is in hot water after a New Year’s Day incident aboard a Russian aircraft.

The retired 37-year-old winger, who spent time with the Calgary Flames, Arizona Coyotes and Ottawa Senators during his NHL career before returning to Russia in 2007 to finish his career in the Kontinental Hockey League, was at the centre of an off-ice incident, according to a report in the British Sun newspaper.

The Sun said Russian media identified Saprykin, who had been described as a “business -class passenger.”

The report said Saprykin was upset because the flight attendant on Aurora Air Lines “refused to top up his whiskey glass” on a flight from Sochi to Moscow and, as a result of his outrage, the plane had to make an emergency landing in Voronezh, Russia.

One report from Moscow said Saprykin was so upset he struck a flight attendant “in the head” as she was trying to calm him down.

“The young woman fell on the floor and was badly bruised,” the report said.

Apparently, Saprykin was in Sochi for new year’s festivities and was headed home when the reported incident occurred. Reports in Moscow showed pictures and video of Saprykin in jail. The Sun said: “In a video released by the Russian Interior Ministry in only underwear banging on a cell door and throwing broken furniture through the bars.”

Media outlets in Russia said the flight attendant opted not to file charges against Saprykin, who holds Russian and Canadian citizenship, and he later returned to Moscow with his family after paying a fine.

Saprykin, drafted No. 11 overall by the Flames in 1999, played parts of five seasons in the Calgary organization. He was acquired by Ottawa as a deadline rental from Arizona in February 2007 and suited up for 15 games during the Senators’ run to the Stanley Cup final that spring.

An Ottawa columnist gave him the nickname Oleg (Freakin’) Saprykin during his stay with the Senators because there was a belief general manager John Muckler should have got a player who could make more of an impact that spring. The Senators had tried to acquire Gary Roberts.

Saprykin wrapped up his career with Ufa Salavat Yulayev in 201516. He played 325 games in his NHL career and finished with 55 goals and 137 points.