For those less than nine seasons that Valery Nichushkin spent in the National Hockey League, the Russian striker managed to experience quite a lot of different events. There would be enough of them for a whole book. If Val ever decides to publish an autobiography, he will have plenty of material for this. A difficult period with the Dallas Stars, a business trip to CSKA, a long goalless streak in the NHL and subsequent ridicule from almost the entire hockey community, and then a reboot with the Colorado Avalanche, the Stanley Cup, general worldwide recognition and a new, solid contract… Coping with Not everyone can achieve such a snowball, but Nichushkin overcame everything. However, new adventures were still awaiting him.
The Russian forward's positive picture of the world was overshadowed by the situation that occurred in April.
The true details of that incident remain unknown to this day, which is why a variety of rumors naturally grew like mushrooms after rain. But the main facts that need to be accepted: Nichushkin was forced to leave the Avalanche at an extremely crucial moment, and his team failed and was eliminated in the first round of the playoffs, but the club remained on the player’s side and expressed its support to him, as well as everyone NHL, thanks to which the Russian plays in the new season without any obstacles. Before its start, Val, who had previously remained silent, was forced to speak to reporters. The Russian forward didn’t say anything new then, but closed Pandora’s box. Subsequently, the press discussed only his game actions.
And at first, Valery did not give as many reasons for positive assessments as he would like. In the first few games, he scored points and helped the team win, but then there was a short streak without scoring, and with it, defeats. The lack of goals was also noteworthy. During the first month of the season, Nichushkin scored rarely: only three times in 14 matches. And all three, interestingly, in games against one club – the Seattle Kraken, the playoff series with which last season was fatal for Val and Colorado. Such statistics even gave rise to a wave of jokes, they say, the Avalanche only need to play against Seattle for Nichushkin to score regularly, but, unfortunately for them, Colorado will no longer meet with the Kraken in the current regular season. However, this no longer bothers Nichushkin.
Valery, together with the Avalanche, took an ice shower in the form of 2:8 from the St. Louis Blues and was noticeably transformed. After this humiliating defeat, Nichushkin went on a five-match scoring streak, which is still relevant today. In a short period of time, the Russian scored 9 points. And most importantly, Val scores regularly. In today's match against the Vancouver Canucks, Nichushkin extended his personal scoring streak and distinguished himself in his usual style, competently working in front of the opponent's goal.
In this component, Valery now, perhaps, has no equal. In the Avalanche, for sure. Every time the Russian scores a goal, it’s a nickel. He scored almost all of his goals this season, successfully positioning his stick for shots from his teammates. Colorado and its main stars use this weapon with particular pleasure.
“Val is impressive. His play in front of the goal is one of the vectors of our game. He is there at the right time, able to not only put his stick under all those pucks, but also work away from the goal, create, and then have time to literally get back to the goal immediately before the attack follows. Val is one of the best in this component,” Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar praised the Russian.
It seems that that very incident has been left far behind and now does not bother anyone at all: not the hockey player, neither Colorado nor the public. And this makes me happy.
It was with Nichushkin’s goal today that Colorado’s victorious march in the match with Vancouver began. Valery completed it, scoring an assist in the episode with the Avalanche's fifth goal, which finally buried the killer whales' chances of salvation. But fate was to some extent favorable to those. More precisely, judges. In the second period, with the score 2:1 in favor of the Avalanche, the same Valery Nichushkin was sent off for two minutes after Canucks goalkeeper Thatcher Demko spectacularly fell, tripping over a Russian. The moment is controversial, but further – more.
Demko himself, for example, subsequently deliberately stopped the match by throwing off his helmet, and bought himself and the team some time to rest, stopping the pressure from the opponent. He was not punished for delaying the game.
But the referee issued another penalty. Josh Manson and Brock Boeser clashed a bit near Alexander Georgiev's goal, and the Vancouver player just needed a reaction from the Colorado defender. Having waited for her, Beser depicted great agony, which the referees believed, giving Manson a large penalty for the rest of the game instead of two minutes. As a result, two consecutive deletions led to a goal against the Avalanche. But this puck was the last for the Canucks in the match.
With the score 5:2, Vancouver even refused to attack at the end of the match. There was no point in this anymore. And there are two effective actions by Valery Nichushkin. Val has already taken fourth place among the top Russian scorers in the current NHL season. He has 17 points in 18 matches. Ahead are only Evgeni Malkin (18), as well as the unattainable Artemy Panarin (26) and Nikita Kucherov (29).
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