Denver Post: Nichushkin involved in incident that prompted police/medical response

[Hennessy]

Yeah, the vids don't really illuminate anything we hadn't already known or that speculation pointed to. I guess they add fuel to that speculation, but in my mind, until I hear definitively otherwise, the assumption that his addiction caught up with him while partying with a hooker who spoke his language sticks.

 

[redacted]

Yeah, the vids don't really illuminate anything we hadn't already known or that speculation pointed to. I guess they add fuel to that speculation, but in my mind, until I hear definitively otherwise, the assumption that his addiction caught up with him while partying with a hooker who spoke his language sticks.

The bolded is the key point here. Some people think we need concrete information to make the very small jumps to what happened. These videos just give confirmation that a few things happened (that we could reasonably speculate did). For those that don't want those leaps to be made, they don't have to make it on a few items.

Reasonably you can narrow down what happened with the information we have. As more information continues to come out, it will narrow down the details... not change the overall picture.

 

[SB]

The pain killer theory definitely has some legs in my opinion. It was pretty well known that Val played with a badly broken foot during the playoffs last year, and had been in and out of the lineup all season due to issues recovering from it. You’re crazy if you think these guys aren’t getting painkillers from the doctors so that they won’t miss games. It’s only human that sometimes people fall into the addiction side of things, and it unravels from there. In the little that has been relayed, it seems the team had no issue taking Val’s privacy into account, and deeming it a “personal issue.”


Val never really looked 100% all season, and that’s perhaps due to more than physical health. I hope the best for everyone involved, and I hope things get cleared up soon.

And not only that, this gets into the murky situation of the responsibility that a team bears for giving a player the drugs, etc etc. Not assessing any blame, it's a free country, these players choose to play through pain. Sort of. I always think of Byron Jones's tweet . So whisking Nuke away and keeping him under lock and key looks bad in one way, but it's probably also feels like some sort of moral obligation. I don't know, I'm not saying this very well. Everyone knows what they sign up for, but situations like this (if it is what we surmise) just show there is a lot of gray area.

 

[Toothless Legend]

And not only that, this gets into the murky situation of the responsibility that a team bears for giving a player the drugs, etc etc. Not assessing any blame, it's a free country, these players choose to play through pain. Sort of. I always think of Byron Jones's tweet . So whisking Nuke away and keeping him under lock and key looks bad in one way, but it's probably also feels like some sort of moral obligation. I don't know, I'm not saying this very well. Everyone knows what they sign up for, but situations like this (if it is what we surmise) just show there is a lot of gray area.

I'd love to believe this is their true intent, but they're simply protecting an asset they've invested heavily in.

 

[CobraAcesS]

And not only that, this gets into the murky situation of the responsibility that a team bears for giving a player the drugs, etc etc. Not assessing any blame, it's a free country, these players choose to play through pain. Sort of. I always think of Byron Jones's tweet . So whisking Nuke away and keeping him under lock and key looks bad in one way, but it's probably also feels like some sort of moral obligation. I don't know, I'm not saying this very well. Everyone knows what they sign up for, but situations like this (if it is what we surmise) just show there is a lot of gray area.

I think you did just fine considering everything.

In the end people regularly judge others on less, way less.

This will be click bait for a long time. Even Dater is willing to keep his mouth shut. That should say something, because he's an absolute attention whore.

Sometimes people fall into the rabbit hole, sometimes they come out, and sometimes they don't.

 

[SB]

I'd love to believe this is their true intent, but they're simply protecting an asset they've invested heavily in.

Yes, of course that is also a huge part of it. It's complicated. Not just one thing.

The single-minded focus on winning the Cup creates scenarios that aren't always so nice. And we are all liable to some extent. I thought about this a lot during the Kyle Beach revelations. Landeskog may never play again, because Cup. Nuke (perhaps) fell into some stuff he may never otherwise have done, because Cup. We celebrate them, because Cup. Again, this is the deal they made, but to what end? Sorry, just feeling think-y today. lol

 

[Ceremony]

The video is basically what we knew with pictures and sound.

I wonder if this will shame the organisation into doing something, he asked, knowing the answer.

 

[JLo217]

what’s sketchy to me is, how involved is Val with whomever took this girls passport? Also, is that person on the Avs staff? Does Nuke know them if not? Something isn’t sitting right after seeing this. There’s more to the story that is beyond drugs, and intoxication.

To be honest, I’ll be surprised if Nuke is on the Avs next year.

 

[SaltySkywalker]

I'm more impressed with how the dude was downing milk from the carton.

I thought the same thing at first, but more than likely it's coconut water or something. Otherwise, they should probably be interrogating that guy for a psychopath himself.

I don't know why people think Val is the guy she's referring to as the bad man. Do people really think he makes $6M a year playing hockey, and also risks prison time moonlighting as trafficker?

Yeah, my first thought was she was talking about her pimp or something. Not sure why Val would feel the need to steal her passport but hey, what do I know.

 

[Hennessy]

what’s sketchy to me is, how involved is Val with whomever took this girls passport? Also, is that person on the Avs staff? Does Nuke know them if not? Something isn’t sitting right after seeing this. There’s more to the story that is beyond drugs, and intoxication.

To be honest, I’ll be surprised if Nuke is on the Avs next year.

There's about zero chance Nuke is involved in any of that. It is common with trafficking victims that the people who promised them jobs before making them do sex work will confiscate their passports to keep them from going back home, and often use threats to family, etc. to keep them from going to the cops.
It's a sick situation, and Nuke should be aware of the iffiness of Eastern European prostitutes, but he's not the pimp.

 

[Snow Arc]

I'm more impressed with how the dude was downing milk from the carton.

It's for his ulcers.

 

[Foppa2118]

Yeah, my first thought was she was talking about her pimp or something. Not sure why Val would feel the need to steal her passport but hey, what do I know.

She was also very intoxicated and rambling a bit. It's hard to tell if she described that sitaution accurately.

This whole time I assumed she was referring to some sort of trafficker that brought her to the US, but while watching that video it seemed like she also could have been just upset at the Avs security who probably had to forcibly remove her from the room. Which is why the doctor got punched in the arm.

She was also asking for her credit card and they said they gave it back to her. So it's possible their security guy just grabbed her things while they removed her from the room or whatever they did, and her passport was among those things.

Wouldn't be shocking for someone in the state she was in to see that guy as a "bad guy" or someone not to be trusted. He was very no nonsense, you can imagine how he probably handled that situation.

I think either the security detail or the actually trafficker make the most sense as to whom she's referring to. The guy who makes the least sense IMO is Val, unless she was just upset with him because they were arguing. Not in reference to him being involved in trafficking.

Also, if she actually had her passport at the hotel, which it sounds like it may be a possibility, that makes the trafficking way less likely, because they would never let her walk around with it. They would have taken it either before she arrived in the US, or right when she did.

Letting her walk around with the passport would allow her to leave, which is why traffickers take the passport first, so they can't.

 

[Avs_19]

I don't know the extent of Nichushkin's involvement but I do know he's incredibly lucky the Avs brought in their fixers when they did and got him up out of there.

BTW, was that a parody or was that actual law enforcement?

 

[BaconNater]

I hope Liam Neeson doesn't get involved, or Nuke is toast

 

[Drury_Sakic]

Even if there is a mental health issue at play, I can’t believe this has not lead to at least some team dicipline component at the least, if not some actual legal issues.

The whole thing reeks of sports rich guy cover up and I hate it.

So he has an addiction and mental health related problem, cool, I support your recovery.

He was involved with a Russian hooker and she was in a bad way at the hotel the day of a game… that deserves a serious look, a suspension, and a legal investigation.

 

[Foppa2118]

He was involved with a Russian hooker and she was in a bad way at the hotel the day of a game… that deserves a serious look, a suspension, and a legal investigation.

Think of it this way. As long as there isn't something that would make this worse than what it appears to be, what helps people with these troubles more? Punishment or getting them into a program and supporting them?

I would bet the team knows exactly what happened, and the league not getting involved more sounds to me like they've probably been briefed on exactly what happened too.

Dismissing him from the team during the playoffs may not have been called disciplinary, or a suspension, but for all practical purposes that's what it was. They probably just didn't want it to have the kind of connotation that comes with calling it that. Perhaps because they want to be supportive, rather than punitive.

 

[Metallo]

I'm more impressed with how the dude was downing milk from the carton.

It was weird AF.

Also, why does that clown discuss Nuke medical condition with the police when it is not topical to the police intervention at all?

 

[Foppa2118]

Since most of the more serious theories stem from the one comment about someone taking her passport, in listening to the video again, it sounds like the security guy on the phone with his partner mentions some things in relation to that. His partner is likely with Val.

Take his comments for whatever they're worth, as he knows the officer can hear him. Also relevant they said the hotel staff found her credit card and gave it back to her.

"They said she went to the hospital. So just you know, an FYI report. Ok? Ok. Yeah I'm not surprised. Ok. And we got all their (our?) property out of there (unintelligible)? Ok. Ok. Yeah she was very insistent she had ID and stuff in her room, but I think she's confusing this with her hotel (hotel room?). Ok we'll check back later."

 

[AvsMakar08]

what’s sketchy to me is, how involved is Val with whomever took this girls passport? Also, is that person on the Avs staff? Does Nuke know them if not? Something isn’t sitting right after seeing this. There’s more to the story that is beyond drugs, and intoxication.

To be honest, I’ll be surprised if Nuke is on the Avs next year.

What kind of drugs are you talking about?

 

[JLo217]

What kind of drugs are you talking about?

Pain killers or alcohol…

 

[The Puckhound]

The editing of that video is pretty disingenuous in that it implies Val is the one who took her passport. Clearly she's referring to an actual pimp/trafficker. Also why tf would she even have brought her passport to bang a client?

IMO the video is telling in essentially confirming some of the speculation around Val having substance issues. The conversation with the team doctor strongly points to that within the context of the situation. If it's prescription drug addiction and nothing else sinister/illegal on his part then I really empathize with him.

I feel like people vastly underestimate how addictive some pharmaceutical drugs are since they are "legal/safe". If this is resultant of an addiction developed as a result of playing through severe pain for a very long period, then I'm disappointed in the judgement and care of the medical staff.

 

[The Kingslayer]

Doing stupid stuff is pretty different than moonlighting as a trafficker though don't you agree? Rich athletes doing stupid stuff makes sense. Rich athletes involved in trafficking makes zero sense.

Plenty of motivation for the former, none for the latter.



I hope no one was actually expecting to get to the bottom of this or have anything cleared up until at least next September during training camp at the earliest. If ever.

Which if there isn't anything more nefarious going on, I'm okay with. Just like I don't need to know the details of all the problems other athletes and celebrities have.

I'm sure Sakic knows what happened, and maybe I'm being naive, but I trust his moral compass in this situation. Not many other teams or Presidents/GM's I would though.

Everytime news drops on the situation theres just more questions. I could care less if Val was banging hookers. I want that man playing for the Avs in October.

 

[myperbixhurts]

I hope Liam Neeson doesn't get involved, or Nuke is toast

Liam Neeson only goes after bad guys after they kidnap his family

 

[Grigowski]

Whatever happened there or is happening right now (we will find out soon enough), an addiction, drugs, whatever....

One thing stands out: He let his teammates down. Period.

And i dont want to to go to that circus by the start of training camp. Imagine Val showing up on the first day and all we talk about is Seattle and him forced to leave his team.

No thanks.

 

[John Mandalorian]

The more this is a story, the more mgt has someone to scapegoat for their feeble TDL.