I have gotten several PMs and emails from people today asking for my reaction to the report that surfaced in Russia about an alleged criminal battery incident involving Flyers forward Nikolay Zherdev and his wife.

My response is simply that we should wait until there is reliable information available about what, if anything, actually happened. There is reason to suspect that the story may be entirely untrue or at least greatly exaggerated.

First of all, the Russian newspaper that issued the initial report (Moskovsky Komsomolets) is not known for being a particularly reliable source of information. The newspaper supposedly is heavy on gossip, and not always concerned with factual accuracy. Puck Daddy's Dmitry Cheshnekov notes that Sovetsky Sport (which is generally more reliable) basically refuted the initial report based on accounts from those who would have had direct knowledge if the alleged incident had taken place -- at least as described by the first newspaper.

Earlier today, I spoke with a Flyers source source who said the team had no knowledge of such an incident. A current Flyers player also said he had no knowledge of it, and suspected the initial report to be either mistaken or fabricated. In both cases, however, neither could say for sure that the incident had not taken place -- simply that they had knowledge of it if it did.

I strongly agree with Cheshnekov that, as of now, there remains too much that is unknown or unproven about the situation to jump to any conclusions.

Join the Discussion: » Comments » Post New Comment

» Lightning Strike Takes Down Jets

» Practice Day, Ersson, Jay Greenberg, A Personal Note

» Flyers Gameday: Game 12 vs. BOS

» Wrap: Brink Lifts Flyers over Blues, 2-1

» Game 11 Preview: Flyers vs. STL