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

[The Abusement Park]

Honestly I'm just pissed that he screwed the team over. I wouldn't have cared if he was doing lines off of the hooker between periods, but his absence directly influenced our already shitty season from going as far as they could have (maybe at least WCF??)

Not much I can do about it other than being upset? He was my favorite player and now I'm going to have to find a new one. Similar situation to Kadri getting suspended in the Vegas series a few years back. I was livid and wanted him traded because he f***ed over the team. Ultimately I'm glad he wasn't and definitely redeemed himself. Hopefully Nuke can do the same.

Couldn’t have said it better myself.

 

[Avs91]

We live in such a weird world.

Personally, I don't care a lick about Nuke partying with hookers and having a 'good' time. I know the majority of NHLers are not angels and a team filled with angels is simply not a great team. It is an ugly side of sports, but a reality. If you suspended players for doing this, you'd have a hard time filling out a team on a nightly basis. In that regard, this is a no big deal thing. Thus I'd expect zero discipline from the NHL and legally, it is hard to get in major trouble as an athlete for these actions.

Where this issue gets crappy is that it happened on a game day and the issue has been so prevalent that the team sent Nuke away during a playoff series. The amount of people just willing to sweep that under as a nothing burger and even to the extent Nuke deserves an apology is just mind boggling to me. Nuke did something very wrong for the team to handle it like this... he did it during the most important time of the season. Now we may have a reason as to why... but that doesn't change that his actions directly had a negative impact on his team.

Not sweeping anything under the rug, I just simply do not know. Did I miss where the team issued a statement that they made him leave? If I did, I’ll digress, but everything Bednar said when asked and since then that I’ve seen is that he’s ‘away from the team for personal reasons’, so do you know for fact that he didn’t ask to leave himself?

EDIT: What's mind boggling is how little has been put out, everyone here seems to KNOW that he's 100% in the wrong, without actually knowing anything.

My point is there's more than 1 possible scenario, #1 being yes, he's a terrible person that made bad decisions and royally f***ed the team over, sure.

Scenario #2 is way more nuanced than that, but no can't be, right! He couldn't have gotten a little too far into a substance issue, has a few 'friends' over, things get out of hand and all of a sudden he's in way over his head (as I said before, could have been his 'oh shit I need help' moment), goes to the team and says hey this isn't great obviously but I need to get out of here and get some help.

These are wild opposites and the truth is probably somewhere in the middle. It shouldn't be taken as white knigting him if I'm unable to draw the conclusion that he's a POS based on no actual real information.

Honestly I'm just pissed that he screwed the team over. I wouldn't have cared if he was doing lines off of the hooker between periods, but his absence directly influenced our already shitty season from going as far as they could have (maybe at least WCF??)

Not much I can do about it other than being upset? He was my favorite player and now I'm going to have to find a new one. Similar situation to Kadri getting suspended in the Vegas series a few years back. I was livid and wanted him traded because he f***ed over the team. Ultimately I'm glad he wasn't and definitely redeemed himself. Hopefully Nuke can do the same.

I mean, you're basically saying "I hope I'm wrong so I can like him again".

Most of the posters here have said they don't care if he hires prostitutes or uses drugs, but that it's the way it hurt the team. Great, so you don't care about his health. Which I guess makes it easier to buy in to the idea that everything is being 'covered up', right?

The team is covering it up. Denver PD, Seattle PD, the NHL and NHLPA... and so on... the thing with theories is the more complex they get, the less likely they are to be true. If you can't trust them when they say 'there's nothing to report', then I guess you're going to believe whatever you want anyway, so I guess we're done here.

 

[The Moops]

Not sweeping anything under the rug, I just simply do not know. Did I miss where the team issued a statement that they made him leave? If I did, I’ll digress, but everything Bednar said when asked and since then that I’ve seen is that he’s ‘away from the team for personal reasons’, so do you know for fact that he didn’t ask to leave himself?

EDIT: What's mind boggling is how little has been put out, everyone here seems to KNOW that he's 100% in the wrong, without actually knowing anything.

My point is there's more than 1 possible scenario, #1 being yes, he's a terrible person that made bad decisions and royally f***ed the team over, sure.

Scenario #2 is way more nuanced than that, but no can't be, right! He couldn't have gotten a little too far into a substance issue, has a few 'friends' over, things get out of hand and all of a sudden he's in way over his head (as I said before, could have been his 'oh shit I need help' moment), goes to the team and says hey this isn't great obviously but I need to get out of here and get some help.

These are wild opposites and the truth is probably somewhere in the middle. It shouldn't be taken as white knigting him if I'm unable to draw the conclusion that he's a POS based on no actual real information.

I mean, you're basically saying "I hope I'm wrong so I can like him again".

Most of the posters here have said they don't care if he hires prostitutes or uses drugs, but that it's the way it hurt the team. Great, so you don't care about his health. Which I guess makes it easier to buy in to the idea that everything is being 'covered up', right?

The team is covering it up. Denver PD, Seattle PD, the NHL and NHLPA... and so on... the thing with theories is the more complex they get, the less likely they are to be true. If you can't trust them when they say 'there's nothing to report', then I guess you're going to believe whatever you want anyway, so I guess we're done here.

I never said anything is being covered up, so back all the way off my back. But your scenario #2 is pretty hilarious and goes against everything that has been documented. There isn't a whole lot of mystery left. But either way he f***ed the team over so...

And if you have actually read this thread you would have seen that I have family members who are addicts, so I can relate to an addict's mindset. So let me tell you a story... My junkie brother in law gets out of jail and is "putting his life together". He comes to my wife and I and asks if we'll co-sign on a car with him so he can get to work. He seemed sincere enough so we did and within a week he gets high and totals the car. Oh whoops, guess who never got insurance for the car? Guess who is now on the hook for $10k?

Do you think that suddenly means I don't care about his health? Do you think that because he isn't my favorite relative now that I never want to see him get better? Do you think that I'm going to be more wary about what I trust him with or expect from him now?

Now take that and put yourself in the locker room. Do you think the players might have the same kind of apprehension about trusting him right after this happens?

 

[henchman21]

Not sweeping anything under the rug, I just simply do not know. Did I miss where the team issued a statement that they made him leave? If I did, I’ll digress, but everything Bednar said when asked and since then that I’ve seen is that he’s ‘away from the team for personal reasons’, so do you know for fact that he didn’t ask to leave himself?

EDIT: What's mind boggling is how little has been put out, everyone here seems to KNOW that he's 100% in the wrong, without actually knowing anything.

My point is there's more than 1 possible scenario, #1 being yes, he's a terrible person that made bad decisions and royally f***ed the team over, sure.

Scenario #2 is way more nuanced than that, but no can't be, right! He couldn't have gotten a little too far into a substance issue, has a few 'friends' over, things get out of hand and all of a sudden he's in way over his head (as I said before, could have been his 'oh shit I need help' moment), goes to the team and says hey this isn't great obviously but I need to get out of here and get some help.

These are wild opposites and the truth is probably somewhere in the middle. It shouldn't be taken as white knigting him if I'm unable to draw the conclusion that he's a POS based on no actual real information.

I mean, you're basically saying "I hope I'm wrong so I can like him again".

Most of the posters here have said they don't care if he hires prostitutes or uses drugs, but that it's the way it hurt the team. Great, so you don't care about his health. Which I guess makes it easier to buy in to the idea that everything is being 'covered up', right?

The team is covering it up. Denver PD, Seattle PD, the NHL and NHLPA... and so on... the thing with theories is the more complex they get, the less likely they are to be true. If you can't trust them when they say 'there's nothing to report', then I guess you're going to believe whatever you want anyway, so I guess we're done here.

Let's start with Scenario 2... say this happened just as you say, and he asked for help. He was still in way too deep with an issue that caused him to be removed from the team in a playoff run. In a series the Avs could have won. A switch flipping does not erase all the actions. If you're driving drunk, crash and kill someone... it is not an adequate defense to just say I'm an addict and all responsibility is washed away. Whatever happened here was bad enough that he hurt the team significantly and his actions and decisions were directly responsible. There might be reasons or excuses for those actions and decisions... but the actions and decisions still exist. To blanket absolve him of any wrongdoing is absurd. He made decisions to get to this place.

Scenario 1, most people are not saying he's a terrible person. I'm certainly not saying that, people make mistakes and life is a lot of grey. My viewpoint in his life is mostly as fan of the team. The quality of person he is has little to do with my fandom. If he was going around around beating women... that would impact it. Him partying and likely committing infidelity, that doesn't change my viewpoint of the team nor do I really care. Athletes are not saints. He certainly made bad decisions and f***ed up though... I don't know how that is disputed.

I'd like him to get clean and live a life without this sort of distraction, but it isn't my life. People close to me have had issues over the years in various areas... I want them to resolve their issues, but they have to want to resolve their issues. If I have learned anything over my years with substance abuse... for any improvement to be lasting, the individual has to want it. If they don't want it, there is nothing you can do. That doesn't mean you love or care about them less. It also doesn't absolve them from their actions.

When you're talking coverups... teams literally have fixers that follow them around. Coverup makes it sound like this big conspiracy... all the fixer would do in this situation is give the police zero reason to search the hotel room... and then there are zero reasons for it to become a legal issue. That's not a big conspiracy, it is protecting Nuke, your asset, and the team's image. This isn't just hockey, the NHL, or even professional... junior teams have fixers. When you've worked around hockey and know the operations of it, you just know this happens. I've seen it first hand. I've had a situation of mine fixed (underage drinking and drug use). I've had conversations with many of these fixers over the years doing background on players. This is not some leap or complexity... it is common practice. This is so common that many teams out there employ former police officers as scouts to have this connection so the conversations are easier and you get better information.

When we're talking about people knowing... some people, including some here, know a lot more about this situation than is out there. Some of that has been shared here. Those people have gotten railroaded for putting information out there.

 

[dahrougem2]

I agree with ya (and think it’s nuts as a non-pro athlete). Players on drugs though and sleeping around on the road seems somewhat common place. It doesn’t shock me, and it actually seems more common in hockey than other sports. Reminds me of Svatos unfortunately - I hope that’s not where Nuke is headed.

I think basketball and soccer are probably a lot worse than hockey when it comes to this.

 

[John Mandalorian]

MUST HAVE STRONG OPINION!!!

 

[Bender]

MUST HAVE STRONG OPINION!!!

 

[expatriatedtexan]

Not sweeping anything under the rug, I just simply do not know. Did I miss where the team issued a statement that they made him leave? If I did, I’ll digress, but everything Bednar said when asked and since then that I’ve seen is that he’s ‘away from the team for personal reasons’, so do you know for fact that he didn’t ask to leave himself?

EDIT: What's mind boggling is how little has been put out, everyone here seems to KNOW that he's 100% in the wrong, without actually knowing anything.

My point is there's more than 1 possible scenario, #1 being yes, he's a terrible person that made bad decisions and royally f***ed the team over, sure.

Scenario #2 is way more nuanced than that, but no can't be, right! He couldn't have gotten a little too far into a substance issue, has a few 'friends' over, things get out of hand and all of a sudden he's in way over his head (as I said before, could have been his 'oh shit I need help' moment), goes to the team and says hey this isn't great obviously but I need to get out of here and get some help.

These are wild opposites and the truth is probably somewhere in the middle. It shouldn't be taken as white knigting him if I'm unable to draw the conclusion that he's a POS based on no actual real information.

I mean, you're basically saying "I hope I'm wrong so I can like him again".

Most of the posters here have said they don't care if he hires prostitutes or uses drugs, but that it's the way it hurt the team. Great, so you don't care about his health. Which I guess makes it easier to buy in to the idea that everything is being 'covered up', right?

The team is covering it up. Denver PD, Seattle PD, the NHL and NHLPA... and so on... the thing with theories is the more complex they get, the less likely they are to be true. If you can't trust them when they say 'there's nothing to report', then I guess you're going to believe whatever you want anyway, so I guess we're done here.

I haven't read every single post in this thread, but I believe this is the first time I've seen Nuke referenced as a piece of shit. Where is that coming from man? Nobody has actually said that, have they?

 

[Foppa2118]

There's definitely a lack of articulation and clarity on feelings on this subject, replaced by a fair amount of emotion and hot takes.

Just from reading comments here and elsewhere, I got the sense that a lot of people were very angry at him, and thought the team was covering up something more nefarious, and that there should be a lot more accountability for both.

But when I asked what that should be, I only got fair and reasonable responses. And it seems as though some are under the impression that those who felt like I did, want to sweep wrongdoing under the rug, which I don't think is the case.

I think we've been talking past each other for the most part in this thread.

 

[tigervixxxen]

I haven't read every single post in this thread, but I believe this is the first time I've seen Nuke referenced as a piece of shit. Where is that coming from man? Nobody has actually said that, have they?

I too have not read every post in this thread but have put two and two together that my belief is the woman was a symptom and not a cause of the issue, which seems to be the general conclusion around here as well.

I have two questions and if it has already covered/discussed please direct me to the convo or TL;DR if there’s an answer.

1. If it was the team’s decision to send Nuke away could it be because he wasn’t in good enough shape to play that night regardless and therefore became a rock bottom/last straw type of situation?

2. The Avs had 3 years to observe Nuke before giving him $49M, so were they aware that he was a heavy user or whatever you want to call it or do we believe his vices escalated in a year where he said he was in constant pain and hadn’t recovered from his injuries?

 

[PAZ]

I too have not read every post in this thread but have put two and two together that my belief is the woman was a symptom and not a cause of the issue, which seems to be the general conclusion around here as well.

I have two questions and if it has already covered/discussed please direct me to the convo or TL;DR if there’s an answer.

1. If it was the team’s decision to send Nuke away could it be because he wasn’t in good enough shape to play that night regardless and therefore became a rock bottom/last straw type of situation?

2. The Avs had 3 years to observe Nuke before giving him $49M, so were they aware that he was a heavy user or whatever you want to call it or do we believe his vices escalated in a year where he said he was in constant pain and hadn’t recovered from his injuries?

These are just my opinions but:

1. He was in good enough shape - but he visibly injured. My guess is that they were aware that he was abusing painkiller/drugs near the end of the season and he promised it wouldn't happen again. Once they found him in an inebriated state that was the last straw and they decided his health was more important than the playoffs.

2. Nuke was one of the healthiest Avs during his 3 years, but he got and played through a pretty bad injury last year which is only possible through some intense painkillers. Start of the year he was healthy but he got injured again mid-season, and when he came back he weas using painkillers again and got addicted.

 

[Bill Peckerskull]

 

[dahrougem2]

Baugh reports Nichushkin is going to be back for training camp.

I still think the Avs are going to mandate no reporter is allowed to ask Nichushkin about specifics and all they'll be allowed to ask are standard "how are you feeling heading into the season" questions.

 

[AvsMakar08]

Nuke is innocent. Nuke is not a drug addict or an alcoholic. Nuke only drinks vodka straight up on weekend evenings or after big wins or when meeting his good old buddy Burakovsky.

 

[tigervixxxen]

Baugh reports Nichushkin is going to be back for training camp.

I still think the Avs are going to mandate no reporter is allowed to ask Nichushkin about specifics and all they'll be allowed to ask are standard "how are you feeling heading into the season" questions.

He won’t even be made available so will be business as usual.

 

[Northern Avs Fan]

This is all very puzzling to me.

It kinda seemed like things were trending the way of him being in some kind of treatment program. He’s just out and about now?

I guess that could still be the case. All very confusing.

 

[Balthazar]

 

[Muffin]

Valeri Nichushkin is expected to return for Avalanche training camp. What comes next?

Nichushkin is vital to the Avalanche, but there's now more to his situation than on-ice results.

theathletic.com

 

[The Kingslayer]

This is a non issue to me now. He didnt rape anyone. He didnt kill anyone. He didnt beat anyone up. Sucks he f***ed the team but whatever the Avs werent winning dick last season with JTC as 2C anyways.

 

[BrickNHL]

This is a non issue to me now. He didnt rape anyone. He didnt kill anyone. He didnt beat anyone up. Sucks he f***ed the team but whatever the Avs werent winning dick last season with JTC as 2C anyways.

Exactly my thoughts plus JTC also f***ed the team over

 

[sethro109]

Exactly my thoughts plus JTC also f***ed the team over

Compher has been f***ing this team over since the San Jose series.

 

[Ceremony]

He is 100% turning up at training camp and it's never being mentioned again.

ding ding ding ding

 

[Metallo]

This is the biggest shocker since Forsberg's spleen exploded and we won't get an explanation. Typical Avs.

 

[LOFIN]

This is a non issue to me now. He didnt rape anyone. He didnt kill anyone. He didnt beat anyone up. Sucks he f***ed the team but whatever the Avs werent winning dick last season with JTC as 2C anyways.

Pretty much this. As long as his teammates are ok with it and not feeling animosity about it any more going into the season, the fans shouldn't either.

 

[the_fan]

This is a non issue to me now. He didnt rape anyone. He didnt kill anyone. He didnt beat anyone up. Sucks he f***ed the team but whatever the Avs werent winning dick last season with JTC as 2C anyways.

My thoughts exactly