NHL star Artemi Panarin has claimed he “lost his mind” because of Russia-based insults including an alleged remark about Vladimir Putin – and the Canadian rival accused of making them has confirmed they were about his homeland.
The New York Rangers asked the league to investigate comments made by Brad Marchand, of the Boston Bruins, which led to the Russian star throwing a glove at his opponent.
Marchand has been accused of making a dig involving president Putin and has admitted that his jibes did relate to Russia.
“I said that no one in Russia likes him,” said Marchand, responding to continuing attention on the row during a game on Friday.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">From the bench, Artemiy Panarin throws his glove at Brad Marchand <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NYR?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NYR</a> <a href="https://t.co/bQCkC7iI0F">pic.twitter.com/bQCkC7iI0F</a></p>— Shayna (@hayyyshayyy) <a href="https://twitter.com/hayyyshayyy/status/1464334299893743622?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 26, 2021</a></blockquote>
“So if that is now what is setting guys over the edge, then this is the softest league in the world and no one should be allowed to say anything.
“Because there’s a lot worse things said out there than that. If that’s what he’s crying about, then it is what it is.”
Marchand’s comments may have referenced a row surrounding Panarin in Russia after he made public his support for opposition figure Alexey Navalny earlier this year.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Brad Marchand on the Artemi Panarin incident: “I said no one in Russia likes him.”<br><br>“If that’s what sets guys over the edge, then this is the softest league in the word.”</p>— Conor Ryan (@ConorRyan_93) <a href="https://twitter.com/ConorRyan_93/status/1465732508176330755?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 30, 2021</a></blockquote>
Panarin said the nature of Marchand’s words had caused him to reacted petulantly “because I can’t control myself after that”.
“It’s important to [know] that I didn’t start it,” he pointed out. “I didn’t say good things about him, too, but I think when you touch [someone’s] country, it’s different. Probably all Russians would want to defend their country.