Former Canucks Forward Virtanen Issues Statement via Agent

This updates our previous story regarding the sexual assault charge issued to former Vancouver Canucks forward Jake Virtanen by the Vancouver Police Department.

The following statement was issued after 2:30 pm Thursday by Kevin Epp, Virtanen’s NHLPA certified player agent on Titan Sports Management letterhead:

As we have previously stated, Mr. Virtanen denies the allegations of non-consensual sexual contact with the complainant.  He has filed a response to the complainant’s civil lawsuit. He has sent police a statement, denying the allegations. He took a polygraph examination and provided that report to the police. Mr. Virtanen continues to maintain his innocence and looks forward to defending himself at trial.  Until such time, we do not intend to make any further public statements.

Virtanen is scheduled for an initial court appearance on the matter on February 10th.

The Vancouver Canucks separate team investigation seems to have been dissolved or simply absorbed into the police investigation.