The Washington Capitals, Evgeny Kuznetsov and the National Hockey League all released official statements Friday morning:
Official Statement From The Washington Capitals
“In addition to doing our own due diligence, we met with Evgeny to discuss the video circulated on social media. While we are disappointed by his presence in the video, we accept his explanation and apology for putting himself in an unfortunate situation. Evgeny has been a terrific player and an active member of our community, and we expect him to learn from this experience and uphold both the standards the organization has for him as well as his own.”
Official Statement From Evgeny Kuznetsov
“I would like to address the video of me that appeared online on Monday. While I have never taken illegal drugs in my life and career, I would like to publicly apologize to the Capitals, my teammates, our fans and everyone else, for putting myself in a bad situation. This was a hard lesson for me to learn.”
Official Statement from the NHL
NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly statement regarding Capitals’ forward Evgeny Kuznetsov, also released at the same time the Capitals and Kuznetsov disseminated their official statements:
After a bronze medal run with Team Russia at the 2019 International Ice Hockey Federation’s World Championships, Capitals forward Evgeny Kuznetsov found himself under intense social media speculation on Monday when a video surfaced showing the Caps’ superstar center sitting next to a table with white powder which many speculated to be cocaine.
Kuznetsov spoke to Russian sports website Sports Express, on Monday, addressing the tweet that featured the video, which has since been deleted.
This is the video included in a tweet that was deleted Monday afternoon. The text of the tweet translated to “So that’s why we lost”:
A translation of Kuznetsov’s full response to Sport-Express.ru is provided below:
All three parties (Kuznetsov, Capitals, NHL) respi ding at the same time on a Friday, seems coordinated, but, I guess that’s probably a good thing.
Cleared by all parties, however, he is now in everyone’s radar, including his wife, imho. If he is as clean as he says he is, there will be no more issues.
When it comes to dubious behaviors, Kuznetsov is a PIKER compared to many wild NHL’er over the years. This includes several ex-Caps! Ciccarelli, Jagr, and Joe Murphy immediately come to mind! Alexander Semin showed up at more than his share of “wild parties” both in America and Russia during his peak years. Read the Bob Probert story, or that of Derek Sanderson, and one can accurately describe Evgeny Kuz as a “choir boy.”
A big-time lesson-learned for Kuzy. Maybe this will spark him to play better! Kuzy provided us with an accurate wisdom some years ago: “The career of a professional hockey player is not long!” And as well, an honest Kuzy admission of I’m-still-growing-up: [more paraphrase: ‘Winning a championship requires 365-day-per-year dedication, and I’m not ready for that!’].
So maybe a blessing in disguise! Grow up now Kuzy, bust your arse, and play better! Maybe you can help the Caps squeak out one more Stanley Cup Championship before the Ovechkin era is over.
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