The Arizona Coyotes have terminated Alex Galchenyuk's contract after a police report revealed the center used racial slurs against law enforcement during a traffic stop, as well as threatened the officers' lives.
Galchenyuk was arrested Sunday on charges of private property hit-and-run, disorderly conduct, failure to obey, resisting arrest, and threatening or intimidating. A report from the Scottsdale Police Department said that Galchenyuk behaved aggressively towards officers after apparently crashing his car into a road sign.
According to police, Galchenyuk was on the ground about 20 feet from the car when a training officer and a trainee arrived. The officers said that they watched another man put Galchenyuk into the passenger's seat before driving away. They then pulled over the vehicle, finding the two men to be intoxicated.
Galchenyuk reportedly became agitated when asked to step out of the car. Citing his connections in Moscow, the Russian athlete threatened them by saying “I’m gonna chop you, your wife, your daughter” and “One phone call and you’re all dead, your whole family, your blood line is dead." He also repeatedly used a racial slur in reference to the officer-in-training.
Galchenyuk played 11 games with the the Colorado Avalanche last season, but spent the rest of the year in the AHL. The Coyotes signed the center to a one-year, $775,000 contract on July 1, marking his third time on the team.
Just one day after placing him on unconditional waivers, the Coyotes terminated Galchenyuk’s contract over a material breach of terms, denouncing his behavior in a statement.
“We are aware of the incident involving Alex Galchenyuk and strongly condemn this type of behavior,” the team said. “Once the club was made aware of the allegations, we immediately began the process of terminating his standard player’s contract through the proper channels in conjunction with the National Hockey League.”
They continued: "As a result, the Arizona Coyotes today have exercised the team's right to terminate the contract of Alex Galchenyuk due to a material breach of the terms of his Standard Player's Contract. The Club will have no further comment at this time."
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