Colorado’s Valeri Nitšuškin was moved to the third level of the NHL’s treatment program, which means he will be suspended for six months. Nitšuškin, who leads the NHL’s playoff scoring market, was out of the games immediately.
It’s been a busy year for Colorado’s Russian power forward Valery Nitshushkinin, 29, heavy. The game was finally called off early on Tuesday morning Finnish time, when the club’s coaching management noticed during morning training that the winger was not available.
According to the information of the American sports media Daily Faceoff and ESPN, the player would have given a positive sample for the drug test. The NHL and Colorado have not confirmed the information.
After this, Nitšuškin was transferred to the third level of the NHL’s treatment program, which means he will have at least half a year off from games without pay.
Nitshushkin’s absence is a huge game-wise loss for Colorado in the middle of the playoffs.
The big Russian striker is the absolute elite of the series’ power forwards. He currently leads the playoff scoring market. For the previous three springs, Nitšuškin is the NHL’s fifth best scorer in the playoffs. He has played a lot in the first chain by Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen alongside.
It’s been wild outside the trough. Nitshushkin’s previous 12 months have been quite a rally.
April 2023
Nitšuškin leaves the team and disappears from public view after a peculiar hotel brawl. The members of the club who were looking for Nitshushkin find a Ukrainian-born Russian woman in a confused state in the Russian’s room, who claims that an “evil person” took her passport. Before Colorado security personnel call the woman for help from 911, Nitsuški is taken away from the scene.
A woman hits a member of the Colorado security staff, but he does not want to take the case further. The police won’t start investigating the events in the room anyway. A Denver police officer who is part of Colorado’s security staff assures that nothing criminal has happened in the room.
Nitšuškin will not play the same day in the third game of the playoff series, and eventually not a single game against Seattle. Colorado surprisingly loses the first round match series with a 3–4 victory.
August 2023
Nitšuškin, who disappeared from the public, surprises in August by appearing on his own Instagram account, posing with an assault rifle in one hand and a Stanley Cup ring in the other. The location of the photo is marked as Chelyabinsk. The player has written “romance” as the caption.
A picture clearly taken at night will be deleted at dawn.
September 2023
Nitšuškin returns to the media for the first time after the April hotel brawl at the training camp. The Russian star downplays the events of the spring and says that there was nothing interesting in the events. He stated “family reasons” as the reason for the disappearance.
– If we had won the series, I probably would have played in the second playoff round, Nitšuškin stated and made many eyebrows rise in surprise.
Colorado says it has reviewed the police reports related to the events in Seattle, but they did not result in sanctions against the Russian.
Earlier in the summer, in connection with the Stanley Cup finals, the league’s deputy commissioner Bill Daly assured that he was satisfied with how the matter was handled and that there are no upcoming sanctions for Nitšuškin from the NHL either.
January 2024
The match in the middle of the month in Toronto will be missed, and the NHL and its players’ association NHLPA inform that Nitshuškini will enter the NHL’s treatment program. The treatment program is supposed to help players with mental health and substance abuse problems, among other things. Among the Finns, Columbus joined the program in the winter Patrick Laine.
In the press release, Nitšuškin states that he wants to deal with his problems and prevent the resulting difficulties once and for all. The player profusely thanked the support he received from his family, wife and fans and promised to return to real action as soon as possible.
Just a little earlier in January, the Denver media had asked the head coach From Jared Bednar, whether there was any uncertainty regarding Nitšushkin during the season. Luotsi assured that both Nitšuški and the defender who also went through the treatment program this season Samuel Girard are mentally and physically in excellent shape.
February 2024
Nitšuškin returns to training at the end of the month and all parties assure that everything is fine again. The return to real action will take place on March 8, 2024, and Nitšuškin will score in three consecutive matches.
May 2024
The NHL and its players’ association announce that Nitšushkini will enter the third level of the treatment program, which means at least half a year off from games without pay.
Moving to the third level means that the player has broken the rules of the second level. The strange thing is that the player’s transfer to the second level had not been announced before.
Like a year ago, the Russian disappears again in the middle of the playoff series and on game day. Colorado loses to Dallas on the same day 1-5 and is now 1-3 down in the second round match series.
From Finns Jere Karalahti remember the problems that led to the treatment program. Karalahti got on the same level as Nitsuškin, but left the treatment program unfinished, which cut short his NHL career. Karalahti ended up not playing at all in the 2002–2003 season before returning to HIFK.