In the footsteps of Bush: what is known about the accusations of hockey player Virtanen in sexual violence

Lately allegations of sexual assault and harassment have become frequent in the hockey world.

A month ago, an investigation was made public against the players of the youth team of Canada, who are suspected of committing unlawful acts, and earlier, the owner of the Gagarin Cup as part of the Omsk Avangard, Reed Boucher, became a defendant in a similar case.

Now it's the turn of another athlete who recently played in the KHL - the former forward of the Moscow "Spartak" Jake Virtanen.

The police began checking against him back in May 2021, and in mid-July 2022, the Canadian appeared as a defendant in the Supreme Court of British Columbia.

According to the 23-year-old victim, whose name remains unnamed, they met Virtanen in July 2017 at the annual cowboy rodeo festival in Calgary.

According to her, on the same day they kissed for the first time and exchanged phone numbers.

At the same time, the girl emphasizes that then she did not recognize the athlete and had no idea what he was doing.

But then Virtanen still showed great promise.

In 2014, he was selected with the sixth overall pick in the NHL Entry Draft, and a year later, he helped Team Canada, led by Connor McDavid, win gold at the World Youth Championship.

In the final, the Maple Leaves with great difficulty took over the Russian team (5:4), and Jake himself chalked up an assist.

At the time of the meeting with the plaintiff, he managed to play two seasons for the Vancouver Canucks and was preparing for the third, which eventually became one of the most unsuccessful for him in the NHL.

In it, the forward averaged 0.27 points per game (the second worst result in his career, not counting his debut year) and scored only 20 (10 + 10) points in 75 meetings.

And eight days before the start of that championship, an event occurred that in the future will lead to the expulsion of the Canadian from the strongest hockey championship on the planet.

According to the testimony of the girl, on September 26, 2017, she went to Vancouver to visit friends and take part in a photo shoot.

On the same day, she wrote to Virtanen and decided to arrange a meeting.

The hockey player offered to pick her up in the evening.

And although she originally planned to see him on another day, she nevertheless agreed.

At that moment, she thought that they would go for a walk, but instead, the Vancouver striker took her to the hotel.

According to the victim, even if she wanted in principle to have an intimate relationship with Virtanen, she was not in the mood to do it that evening.

The girl was tired after the road and did not have time to take a shower or put herself in order.

However, Virtanen refused to respond to all kinds of protests on her part and insisted on intimacy.

According to the plaintiff's testimony, she spent that night in a room and was sexually abused by Virtanen, who did not even take her back to her friends the next morning.

The hockey player went to training, and gave her money for a taxi.

At the trial, the girl admitted that she felt "insulted and confused" and could not come to terms with the fact that she was raped.

The consideration of the case in court is just beginning, so it is too early to speculate about Virtanen's prospects.

So far, the North American media has not spoken about the demands of the victim, or about possible preventive measures against the athlete.

However, the allegations have already affected his career.

Vancouver put him up for an unconditional waiver draft, and not a single NHL club, as expected, decided to accept him, as a result of which Jake was forced to leave the league.

Although he denied all suspicions.

“As we have stated before, Mr Virtanen denies allegations of non-consensual sexual contact with the applicant.

He submitted a written reply to the applicant's civil action.

He filed a police report denying the allegations.

Passed a polygraph test and provided the police with a report on this test.

Mr. Virtanen continues to maintain his innocence and is looking forward to defending himself in court.

Until then, we do not intend to make any further public statements, ”Sportsnet quotes the athlete’s statement distributed through agents.

As a result, Virtanen managed to find a job in the KHL, where in September 2021 he signed a one-year contract with Spartak.

True, he also did not shine in the Muscovites (16 points in 36 meetings), and in March he left the club.

According to Sport-Express, the Canadian violated the terms of the agreement, which resulted in its termination.

Last season, another KHL legionnaire who previously defended the colors of Vancouver, Reed Boucher, got into a similar situation.

At the end of January, an American was sentenced to four years of probation and one year of probation for raping a minor.

The incident is said to have taken place in 2011.

Then 17-year-old Boucher was listed in the development program of the US national team and was training camp in Plymouth, Michigan.

The victim was at that time a 12-year-old girl whose family lived with a hockey player.

After a lengthy investigation and a number of court hearings, the player admitted to committing a third-degree sex crime, although he was initially charged with a first-degree offense.

In the end, it cost him not only his career in the NHL, but also breaking the contract with Lokomotiv.

Lokomotiv informs that cooperation with the forward of the main team Reed Bush has been terminated.

According to the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, the hockey player was fired from the club on February 18, 2022, ”the team said.

Without their best scorer, Lokomotiv, as expected, failed in the playoffs and flew out in the first round, losing dry to the future champion - CSKA.

However, this summer the American returned to the KHL and re-signed an agreement with Avangard.

It was in Omsk that he spent the brightest segment in his Russian career and not only entered the top 15 top scorers of the 2020/21 regular season, but also helped the Hawks win the Gagarin Cup.

Before him, not a single hockey player from the United States won the major league trophy.

“The decision regarding Reed Boucher was not an easy one, we understand the pressure that was put on him at the end of last season, both here in Russia and in his home country.

After long conversations and consultations, Bush announced his desire to play for Avangard ... As for the situation due to which he was forced to leave Russia last season, we understand that Reed made a mistake.

Plus, he was underage at the time.

It is very important what conclusions a person draws from his mistakes, how he changes.

Reed fully realized his guilt, ”commented the signing of the contract with the striker, Avangard general manager Alexei Volkov.