While the Colorado Avalanche has been without a few important players due to injury, Valery Nichochkin is not one of those players because he is injured.
Although the reason for his absence remains a mystery, new information suggests the Russian striker may be allowing some off-ice dramas to interfere with his work.
Nichushkin was removed from his Seattle hotel, but according to his agent Mark Gandler, there was no drug or alcohol connection. Given the newly revealed details, this may not be true.
Details obtained 104.3 The Fan in Denver from the Seattle Police Department He mentions that they were called to Nichushkin’s room for a “crisis situation” last Saturday morning at 3:45 am. There, they found a woman named Irina Prudnikova, who “was very drunk.” She was examined by the Avs team doctor, and the police report stated that Prudnikova beat this doctor. He did not want to press charges, noting how drunk she was. The doctor ended up calling 9-1-1 believing Prudnikova was too drunk to take a taxi or share a house.
Prudnikova said she is from Russia, but was born in Ukraine. She told the police that she shouldn’t have come to America, but that a “bad person” had stolen her passport.
The new information leaves open questions about Nishushkin’s absence and whereabouts. Only that he left the hotel with a security team known to us. It is still unknown where he went, why he left, and when he will return.
In 2018, Nechushkin married Svetlana Luk. There are no signs of their marriage breaking up.
When it comes to hockey, the Avalanche is currently facing a Kraken team down 3-2 in the series and could use someone like Valeri, who was so important to winning the championship the year before. They could only hope that he would quickly find a solution to his problem.