DETROIT (CP) -- Defenceman Viacheslav Fetisov of the Detroit Red Wings denies a magazine report that he served as the corporate officer of a New York company used by the Russian mafia to launder money. 

"It's like a fairy tale," Fetisov told the Detroit Free Press. "None of it is true. 

 "The guy who wrote this asked me and I told him I have nothing to do with the mafia. No business, no relationship." 

 Fetisov was linked to Russian criminal activities in the May issue of Details magazine. A story focused on the Russian mafia's burgeoning influence in the United States through former NHL players from the Eastern Bloc. 

 Much of the report rehashed old allegations that Russian star players were trageted for protection money. But the story supports its claims of the mafia's ascendancy with confidential FBI reports. 

 Details author Robert Friedman wrote that in 1992 Fetisov signed business incorporation papers essentially naming himself president of Slava Inc., a front company in New York used by the Russian mob to conduct money-laundering operations.