In the unpredictable outcomes of the NHL playoffs, the most mysterious was far from hockey history. Having played in the first two games of the series against the Seattle Kraken, the Russian striker of the Colorado Avalanche Valery Nichushkin unexpectedly found himself out of the avalanche application. In the camp of the current owners of the Stanley Cup, Nichushkin's departure from the club's location was explained by «personal reasons» without any details and approximate dates for the forward's return.
Without Valery «Avelanche» played three matches in which they suffered two defeats and found themselves on the verge of relegation already in the first round. Probably, the head coach of “Colorado” Jared Bednar will not be able to count on the help of the Russians for some time.
A few days later, the North American media began to share alleged details of the situation. We emphasize: it is supposed — for the reason that neither the club nor the agent of the hockey player has received official comments and statements that would give specific answers to the mass of questions that have arisen.
So, well-known insider Frank Seravalli, on the air of the Canadian channel Sportsnet podcast, said that in a hotel in Seattle, where the Colorado team was located, there was an alcohol-related incident in which Nichushkin was involved. Denver-based journalist Adrian Dater later added that an unknown 28-year-old woman was hospitalized from the same hotel. Subsequently, it turned out that this girl has at least an indirect relationship with Valery.
On April 28, a number of media outlets, citing the Seattle Police Department, published publications that an unknown woman was found in the room where the Russian forward Colorado lived. It is noted that the woman was in a state of severe intoxication. Which substance is unknown. Dater reports that the girl was under the influence of alcohol, Bennett Durando of The Denver Post, citing Seattle Fire Department spokesman David Cuerpo, added that drugs may also be present.
There is no information about how the woman ended up in the room, as well as about her connections with the Russian hockey player, who has been married to a native of Moscow, Svetlana Gavrilyuk, since June 2018. It has only been established that they are not relatives, and the unknown woman herself was found in Nichushkin's hotel room by a representative of the Colorado medical headquarters. Why he needed to check Valery's room is not specified.
The report of the Seattle fire department indicates that he, having seen a «too drunk» woman in the room, called 911 and called an ambulance for further hospitalization of the girl. At the same time, the lady behaved aggressively: in the hotel lobby, she came into conflict with the hotel security service, and also hit a member of the Avalanche medical staff. He refused to bring charges against her.
During the registration of the case, the woman said that she had come to the United States from Russia, but she herself was born in Ukraine. However, she was allegedly dissatisfied with moving to the States. The girl said that «she should not have come to America» and that «some bad man» took her passport. At the time of publication, data on the life of the woman and her employment in Washington State were not available.
It is important to emphasize that no criminal acts were recorded at the scene. Nichushkin himself was absent at the moment when an unknown woman was found in the hockey player's room. Also, the Russian striker is not listed as a defendant in the case, which is not under criminal investigation.
Last summer, Valery Nichushkin, who became the owner of the Stanley Cup with the Colorado, signed a new contract with the Avalanches for a period of eight years and a cap hit of 6.125 million dollars. In the regular season 2022/23, the Russian scored 47 points (17 goals and 30 assists) in 53 games. In two games of the current playoffs, he scored one assist.