Artemi Panarin is pretty awesome. He easily proved that to us over the course of his rookie season this past year – and we should be able to look foward to more over the future, as he’s not only still signed for the 2016-17 season, but the Blackhawks are reportedly already on their way to inking him beyond that.
Panarin has to be doing more with his off-season than just negotiating a new contact, though. Here’s one way to diversify his time: he’s learning Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, a technique-based martial art and self-defense system.
While not entirely translatable to hockey, it’s not a bad idea to learn at all; Panarin isn’t the biggest guy out there, after all! Plus it helps diversify the off-season workout, which is always good. (Just ask Jonathan Toews and how out of shape he is.)
But the buck doesn’t stop there. Andrew Shaw has been dealt his fair share of chirps; most recently via Niklas Hjalmarsson’s keyboard. So if you take a look through the comments on Panarin’s Instagram video, you’ll find this:
He’s only just started to learn! Give him time – and Shaw will probably say the same thing, because that’s how chirping goes, and it’s great.