Panarin's former coach shares details of the alleged incident.

The life of New York Rangers forward Artemi Panarin has no doubt been turned upside down this morning after a Russian outlet published some very serious accusations against the National Hockey League superstar.

The news first broke this morning when Rangers insider Larry Brooks reported on what he described as a "political hit piece" against Panarin out of Russia. That report alleges that all the way back in 2011, Panarin would have violently assaulted an 18 year old woman, the player himself would have been 19 years old at the time of the alleged incident. 

Now I must point out that there has been a great deal of skepticism surrounding these allegations due to the fact that Panarin has been a public and vocal critique of Russian president Vladimir Putin. Many have been quick to suggest that this is a calculated effort to slander Panarin's name in an effort to diminish his credibility when it comes to his stance on current affairs in Russia. There does seem to be some credence to this, as just last month Panarin openly voiced support for Russian journalist Alexei Navalny, who has been a staunch critic of Putin and who has himself been handed down a 2.5 year jail sentence, since that post from Panarin.

The main voice speaking out against Panarin in this matter appears to be Panarin's former coach from the Kontinental Hockey League, Andrei Nazarov. Nazarov has been described as a "known Putin supporter" once again casting doubt on what the real motivations behind this story truly are. 

Now that all that is out of the way, the accusations being made by Nazarov are nonetheless damning. 

According to the former According to the former Vitayz head coach, Panarin, following a 2 - 0 loss to Dynamo in the KHL, was out at a hotel bar on December 11th 2011 in Riga, Latvia when Panarin "sent the 18-year-old citizen of Latvia to the floor with several powerful blows." Unfortunately things only get worse from here.

Nazarov claims that Panarin was in fact detained by the police after the alleged incident had taken place, but adds that the police officers in question had been bribed with a payment of 40,000 Euros, in cash no less, to let the Rangers star off the hook. He goes on to claim that "respected" residents of Latvia also spoke on his behalf, presumably in another effort to get him off the hook. 

These are of course very serious accusations but as we stated earlier today we are withholding judgement given the politically charged nature of this whole affair.