Valeri Nichushkin sends an arrow to the Avalanche about their 22-23 playoff history

Remember the story involving Valeri Nichushkin during the 2022-2023 playoffs?

A (very) intoxicated woman was found in the Russian forward’s room and he was forced to leave the team in the middle of the playoffs…

Yeah. All this to say that Nichushkin is back on the case. Not to take the blame, but to criticize the Avalanche for their handling of the story.

The player spoke to a media outlet in Russia and poured his heart out, saying that he should have been allowed to tell his side of the story at the time.

The Avalanche prevented him from doing so… And he’s still carrying it around, obviously.

Avalanche officials didn’t want Nichushkin to appear in front of the media because, at the time, he was the target of some pretty intense rumors.

In the end, they wanted to protect the player and it was probably the right thing to do, even if Nichushkin says otherwise.

Since then, Valeri Nichushkin has had a tough time.

He had to call on the NHL’s assistance program during the last playoffs for the first time in a short space of time, so much so that his teammates spoke out publicly because he (again) had to leave the team during the last playoffs.

Here’s hoping things work out for him, because what happens next looks a little intriguing.

The Avalanche aren’t interested in trading him, and he’ll have some explaining to do if he wants to come back loved in the dressing room.

Overtime

– Happy reading.

From @travisyost – The Good, The Bad and The Ugly of the NHL off-season: https://t.co/Nr9wiym2Da

– TSN Hockey (@TSNHockey) July 8, 2024