This is Trouble with a capital “T”.
A mundane Monday morning was abruptly shook up when Larry Brooks of The NY Post reported that NY Rangers star left-winger, Artemi Panarin would be taking a leave of absence related to a politically motivated allegation against him by his former Head Coach with Vityaz (KHL), Andrei Nazarov alleged that Panarin physically beat an 18-year-old girl back in 2011, in Riga, Latvia.
In the past, Nazarov has made it a point to repeatedly criticize Panarin for being anti-Putin, while Nazarov is a steadfast Putin supporter.
There is no word as of yet as to how true these allegations are.
Shortly after the news broke, the Rangers released the following statement:
The organization is standing behind Panarin in the wake of these believed to be fabricated allegations. And Panarin still has some family in Russia, which is clearly of concern to the superstar at this point as well.
(This story will continue to be updated as more information comes to light).