MOSCOW, December 11 (R-Sport) – Ex-San Jose Sharks wing Alexander Korolyuk would welcome the return of scandal-hit forward Mikhail Anisin to Vityaz Chekhov, he told R-Sport on Tuesday.
Anisin, who hasn’t appeared on the ice since mid-November, refused to play for his current team Dynamo Moscow last week after he was sent to the farm team claiming that head coach Oleg Znarok was deliberately scuttling his ambitions.
“If you want to know my opinion, I wouldn’t mind if Mikhail moves to Vityaz,” said Korolyuk, Vityaz's top-scorer this season.
“It’s a pity that this conflict occurred between Anisin and Dynamo. Because at this age, a player should play and not sit on the bench.”
Anisin, 24, joined Dynamo from Vityaz in January and became the top goalscorer of the playoffs, hitting the net 14 times to help his team to its maiden Gagarin Cup.
“Of course, Mikhail is distressed,” said Korolyuk, a close personal friend of Anisin. “Such scandals have a strong psychological impact on every player. A person is all nerves, nobody likes to be on tenterhooks.”
Vityaz, last season's worst-performing team, stands 11th in the Western Conference and is still chasing its first KHL playoffs appearance.
The KHL is to review the conflict between Anisin and his team later this week.
