In their last two postseason games against the Seattle Kraken, the Colorado Avalanche was without forward Valeri Nichushkin due to, as they put it, “personal reasons” prior to Game 3, Nichushkin was listed as a late scratch, and was said to have left Seattle by going to the airport.
But new information about what happened in the incident – now referred to as the “police incident” at the team’s hotel in Seattle – has now been confirmed.
According to Bennett Durando, the Denver Post tweeted:
@denverpost can report Valeriy Nechushkin was involved in an incident to police at the #Avs team hotel in Seattle, which resulted in a woman found drunk in his room being rushed to hospital for medical treatment. Nechushkin left Seattle that day.
There is no criminal investigation resulting from the incident, authorities told @denverpost. Nichushkin has been away from the team ever since, without any return schedule.
The team has not commented on the whereabouts of Nishushkin, who made the decision to leave Seattle that day or whether his absence was considered disciplinary. Nichushkin in the first season of an eight-year contract.
The woman was discovered in Nikoskin’s room when team members went to check on him, they claimed. According to the incident report, the woman, whose name was not mentioned, told them that “She never had to come to the US and someone stole her passport and that he was such a bad person”
This season, Nichushkin played in 53 games with the Avalanche, who were the reigning Stanley Cup champions, scoring 17 goals and 30 assists. He made a significant contribution to Colorado’s championship game the previous season, scoring nine goals in 20 playoff games to lead the Avalanche to their first Stanley Cup since 2001.