He has played more than 500 games in the world’s best hockey league. He is a two-time AHL champion, during his career he wore the jerseys of the most famous club names. At the 2023 WC, he was Slovakia’s top scorer and the team’s second most productive player.
Photo: TASR, Pavel Neubauer
Richard Pánik (Slovak) made his debut in the Slovak league at the age of 33.
However, if you, as a hockey fan, wanted to know what Richard Pánik had to say about his performances, you didn’t find out until Thursday evening.
A native of Martin, who also played in the NHL for Tampa Bay, Toronto and Chicago, has been waging a silent war with representatives of the Slovak media for more than five years.
The situation in April 2018 was to blame.
Panik, who at that time played in the NHL for the Arizona Coyotes, was arrested by the police in the city of Scottsdale. The reason was a deed with the English term “trespassing”, which is illegal trespassing on someone else’s land.
VIDEO: Editing of the match Slovan – Poprad
The incident took place in front of a night club. The Slovak hockey player refused to leave the bar and the manager of the establishment called the police.
According to the police report, “the arrested person appeared to be under the influence of alcohol.” As the respected overseas portal Bleacher Report wrote at the time, the police arrested Panik, took him to the police station and released him shortly after.
The news was also picked up by the Slovak media, and here is a stumbling block. Since then, Pánik has not spoken to domestic journalists. Allegedly, he was bothered by the fact that journalists distorted the information and did not report the incident objectively.
When we asked the head of Slovak hockey, Miroslav Šatan, who is also the general manager of the national team, what he thinks about the fact that Pánik refuses to speak in front of the Slovak media, he replied:
“I don’t know what you did to him, I don’t know the history. It’s his decision,” he responded.
However, the “beaver of silence” performed by a clever striker is already a thing of the past.
Pánik, who worked in Pardubice last season, signed for Slovan Bratislava as a free agent last week. Early on Thursday evening, he made his debut in the white jersey in the match against Poprad.
Although it was obvious that he had not played a competitive match for almost half a year, he did not forget his skill and hockey skills. He participated in Slovan’s 5:1 win with a goal and two assists and willingly appeared in front of the cameras after the match.
“I evaluate the match positively. It was won, the three points are at home, so satisfaction,” he responded.
Photo: Gints IVUSKANS / AFP / AFP / Profimedia
Panic MS He last appeared in the national team jersey at the 2023 WC in Latvia.
He started in the second attack, in which he was complemented by Latvian center Haralds Egle and former Slovak representative Martin Bakoš.
“At the beginning we were looking for each other a bit, but as the minutes went by it got better and better. There will still be a lot of training, we will get used to each other and it will be good,” he continued.
The star reinforcement has only signed a short-term contract with the Whites so far. Three points in her debut match pleased her.
“Yes, it was nice, but I was more pleased with the result. I believe that during the time I will be here, there will be as many wins as possible,” he wished.
Pánik made his debut in the Slovak extra league at the age of 33. In the 2004/05 and 2005/06 seasons, he played for junior Martina, but he did not play his first match in the extra league until early Thursday evening.
“Without preliminaries, I jumped into the extra-league carousel. It was difficult, the legs were not there today, I hope to find them next time. I was pleased with how the fans welcomed me. I believe that I will please them with my performances and Slovan’s victories,” Pánik added.
Thanks to the win, Slovan jumped to second place in the interim table of the extra league. Poprad lost the third match in a row and before Friday’s program it was ranked seventh.
Both teams will be in action again on Sunday. Slovan plays in Zvolen, Poprad hosts Michalovce.
Loading sports results… Source: sportweb.pravda.sk
