Editorial

Rangers Player Artemi Panarin Says Vladimir Putin’s ‘Time Is Up’

Lehtikuva/Jussi Nukari via REUTERS

David Hookstead Sports And Entertainment Editor
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New York Rangers player Artemi Panarin made it clear he’s not a fan of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

According to NPR’s Lucian Kim on Thursday, the Russian-born hockey star said in an interview with Alexander Golovin that Putin’s “time is up.” He also said he doesn’t like the “lawlessness” of the Russian leader.

The New York Post also reported Panarin said during the interview, “I think he no longer understands where — well, where — bad. It seems to me that it is already psychologically not so easy for him to soberly assess the situation, because there are many people who lead him to decisions.” (RELATED: Steak Shares A Shocking Resemblance To Russian President Vladimir Putin)

 

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The guts on Panarin to come out against Putin are unreal. Most hockey players from Russia are used for major propaganda reasons, and they’re paraded around as big supporters of Putin.

Alexander Ovechkin, the most famous Russian in the NHL, is a very public supporter of the Russian leader, and there are other examples easy to find.

Yet, Panarin clearly isn’t going to be supporting him anytime soon.

 

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Given how Putin rules his country, I’m not sure anybody really wants to be out in the public talking about how his “time is up.”

That seems like a recipe for disaster. I’m not an expert, but Panarin might not want to book plane tickets to Moscow anytime soon.

There might be some Russians waiting to have a conversation with him, and it likely won’t be a very pleasant one.

 

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Props to him for having stones on him the size of boulders. We’ll have to see if the Russian government has any response.

As for the Rangers, they might want to consider giving him a security detail. Putin isn’t exactly known for holding back when it comes to people who don’t like him.