Artemi Panarin's girlfriend Alisa Znarok is a 26-year-old model who also happens to be hockey royalty. Her father, Oleg Znarok, was a star of the Soviet Hockey Championship with Dynamo Riga and had a long career which spanned three decades, ending in 2002 in Germany. He's since transitioned into a successful coaching career, winning three Gagarin Cups as a coach in the KHL, as well as a World Championship and Olympic gold coaching Russia (in 2014 and 2018 respectively).
It's no wonder his daughter ended up with one of the most high-profile Russian hockey players in the world. When Alisa called her father to tell her she was dating one of his former Team Russia players, a long uncomfortable pause was followed by his promise to call her back. After presumably making the proper inquiries, Oleg called his daughter back and congratulated her on her choice.
Alisa's attention this season is split between watching Artemi light it up for the New York Rangers and watching KHL's Spartak Moscow, coached by her father. Spartak is having a mediocre season, sitting in playoff position in the West Conference, but without any history or hint of playoff success. Znarok was brought in this year to try to put the team over the top with his winning experience. Still, watching the team's inconsistent play is taking a toll.
While Panarin himself asks his girlfriend not to watch his games, to "spare her nerves" in his words, he still manages to have a bit of fun when she watches Spartak games.
"She's yelling at the TV: 'What are you doing?! Why can't you score?!'", says Panarin. "As a player, I see that there is actually no chance of something happening. All I see is a lone player carrying the puck through the neutral zone with all five opposing defenders dropping back. I try to tell her that there is scoring chance here."
Panarin also talked about how his attempt to pick up more English by speaking with Alisa fell apart after one day. "She told me that we're only going to argue, because you won't understand me and start flipping out," said Panarin. "Her English is very good. Everyone says that it's cool that she speaks without an accent."
Source: Sport Express
