The National Hockey League along with the National Hockey League Players’ Association have announced that Colorado Avalanche forward Valeri Nichushkin has been put into Stage 3 of the Player Assistance Program. The program is a joint effort between the NHL and NHLPA, and with Nichushkin in Stage 3, he will be suspended without pay for at least six months and will then need to apply to be reinstated once he is eligible.
The Avalanche are just hours away from taking to the ice for Game 4 of their second-round series against the Dallas Stars and trail 2-1. Nichushkin has been a big part of this year’s playoff push for Colorado, tallying nine goals and one assist in eight postseason games. The 29-year-old also had a strong regular season this year, dressing in 54 regular-season games and registering 28 goals and 25 assists.
Nichushkin spent time in the player assistance program earlier this year and also missed the final five playoff games last season against the Seattle Kraken for what the team called personal reasons. He has remained a solid on-ice contributor for the Avalanche posting 93 goals and 107 assists in 289 games, as well as 26 points in his last 30 playoff games. While he’s been very good for the Avalanche on the ice, his off-ice issues have limited his availability, particularly during the past two post-seasons when he’s left the team early.
Nichushkin was a feel-good story two seasons ago when he became a major contributor as the Avalanche marched to a Stanley Cup championship. He had nine goals and six assists in 20 playoff games during that run and it was a shocking turnaround after he was just three years removed from a season in which he had no goals and 10 assists in 57 games with Dallas.
Per TSN’s Pierre LeBrun, “Entering Stage 3 of the Player Assistance Program means that there was a violation of the Stage 2 treatment plan and it requires a suspension without pay for at least six months and then the player is eligible to apply for reinstatement.”
Respectfully, if you can be in and out and then back in the program as Nichushkin has been this year, is it really serving its purpose?
Not a single rehab program on Earth has a 100% success rate. Most addiction is rooted in trauma, and without knowing this guy, it’s impossible to know what he goes through.
I’ll give an hypothetical scenario though. Let’s say Nichushkin had an alcohol addiction. I don’t know that’s what it is, but as an example. He recognizes he has an addiction, he rolls into the player assistance program, gets rehab, gets counselling and psychiatric care. He has recovered from addiction for the time.
Fast forward a few months, he’s at a party with friends or colleagues. Alcohol is being served. He knows he should abstain. Someone goads him into taking a drink, “One won’t hurt.” And then it spirals out of control. Something happens to trigger some past trauma. The addiction accelerates.
Now imagine this scenario keeps happening, in a seemingly endless cycle. This is what addiction is. There is no cure for it. You can provide treatment, but that addiction is never truly gone. Whatever psychological root drives that addiction will never be gone. You can learn to cope as best you can, but for some people, it’s still not enough.
Addiction treatment is not a magic wand. It’s not like bringing your car in for a broken muffler strap. It is a life long disease. This is why it drives me absolutely up the wall when people treat those struggling with addiction like they choose to be where they’re at… A lot of those people put in more work than you could ever imagine to get better, and it’s still not enough. Some people have no hope, and they give up. It’s not an easy thing to live with. Not even as a millionaire athlete.
Whatever his addiction is, nobody forced it on him either though. Part of being an addict is also taking responsibility for it. You have to want to get better and while finding coping strategies and root causes is important, at the end of the day the individual needs to be held accountable.
Well said pyramid.
@josh , can you elaborate on what options might be available for the avalanche? If they were to buy him out, or if he is not able to return, might there be any type of cap relief?
Let me do some CBA digging and get back to you in this thread. Generally, if Nichushkin was injured, they wouldn’t be able to buy him out. I’m unsure what special exemptions/rules apply for a combination of PAP placement and suspension.
I appreciate it, Josh! Both Joshes!
Article 50.10(c) says… “For Players that are suspended, either by a Club or by the League, the Player Salary and Bonuses that are not paid to such Players shall not count against a Club’s Upper Limit or against the Players’ Share for the duration of the suspension, but the Club must have Payroll Room for such Player’s Player Salary and Bonuses in order for such Player to be able to return to Play for the Club.”
So best I can tell, he won’t count against the cap while suspended. I can’t find anything specific about buying out a player in Stage 3 of the program, but I would *assume* the same rule applies as if he was injured (i.e., they can’t buy him out). This is the issue the Flyers are facing with Ryan Johansen this summer – can’t buy him out if he’s still dealing with hip issues.
Confirmation from CapFriendly link to x.com
Thanks josh.
This poor kid has some serious demons and I truly hope he gets the help and support he needs. Addiction is a horrible thing. Being 8 years sober. It is not an easy task to conquer. Best of luck to his recovery. Hockey aside I hope he can just get his life back sober
It’s a shame I can’t teach him how to kick that (whatever it is) habit. I was a drunkaholic in high school. That’s right, high school. Some geniuses decided it was a good idea to gin up drunk tank revenue by lowering the legal age to 18. Stupid bad idea. By 1984, it was time to Q-U-I-T. How?
1. Tell yourself, forcefully, that the stuff smells repulsive.
2. Tell yourself, equally forcefully, that the stuff tastes repulsive.
3. The End. You never get the urge to go near it ever again. I’m living proof it can be done, but the “teaching” requires getting the “angry” you out of the workshop and into your own grill to hammer the point home. You can do it, if you want to. You have to REALLY want to, and make it stick for the rest of your life. And when I tell you the urge was destroyed, it was frikkin’ obliterated. I kid you not.
Great point about govt lowering that drinking age. I worry now about how politicians have decided revenue is most important by essentially legalizing pot use & gambling. Both terrible ideas that will hurt people & society immensely. To anyone that defends marijuana btw you’re an idiot. I know that bc I was an idiot. No one on this site has smoked more blunts, joints, pipes, bowls, bongs etc. Haha. Take it from me your life will be better without drugs and alcohol! I’m 11 years clean & sober & I thank God!
This has to be an absolute gut punch to the Avs players at this point of the season. Just hope VN can get thru whatever he’s dealing with. Really an unstoppable player when he’s playing at 100% of his ability.
@Gbear — The Dallas guys said the Avs played just like that. Like they had been punched in the gut and were just reeling. Both from #13 and #7’s absences. This series might very well be over in a couple of days at the AAC.
@Mac – I’ve got the Stars winning the Cup. So far, so good. :)
Listening to the Stars post game too. Like it when SiriusXM doesn’t cut away as soon as the game ends. :)
@Gbear — On NHL.com, they usually do cut away, oftentimes seconds after the final horn. Either with dead air, or the generic NHL Radio. I used to listen to 1310 from various sources, but it is invariably wrecked by spam. You lose live game action and pre/post-game stuff, too. If I can remember, I will try to use a Dallas-based VPN server to see if it changes anything for the inevitable elimination game. Right now, the Stars look unstoppable. (Say HI to Owen & Bruce! :) )
@Mac – All I know is that Daryl Reaugh has improved my vocabulary, lol!
@Gbear — He IS Mastodonic! You reminded me of some old promos they did for the Stars, several years ago. They did a set around the “Ambassador of Fun”. Brett Hull was in one of them, and Razor was jumping up in his cubicle like a prairie dog. They might still be on YT.
@Mac – Never heard the word bailiwick used on a hockey broadcast before , lol!
Only a bit over 30% of alcoholics manage a lengthy sobriety, and with the grace of God I have that success. I believe drug addicts have much less success, which is also depending on which drug you are consuming. May God have a hand in showing him the path!
God has nothing to do with it. In fact, religious organizations claiming to treat addiction are rife with abuse and unscientific “therapy” that often makes the addiction worse, not better.
Tell that to all the people I know who completely changed their lives around by embracing faith.
Keep telling yourself that.
Nichushkin is sort of an anomaly, the guy is playing the best hockey of his career all the while suffering from a severe substance abuse issue. You’d think, at least like the majority of the time, you’d hear the standard things like, he’s not making it to practice, can’t perform on the job, locker room cancer, etc. But he’s excelling at his job and everyone only says good things about him and his work ethic. Kinda fascinating.
Even took the morning skate before this all happened. The truth will eventually come out I suppose.
Reminds me of Bob Probert for the Red Wings for a couple years. Played his best hockey while abusing drugs & alcohol. Then the wheels fell off. RIP 24
The truth is 9 goals in 8 postseason games this year is tough. Net front in PP is tough. Losing a player like him right before the game is tough.
But 30x tougher than the above is to tame the beast inside.
Life is hard enough without the b.s.
Unfortunately the b.s. doesn’t remove the realities of life. Good luck brotha , if you need a good circle contact FU ball
Anyone who has ever dealt with addiction will tell you that it’s not unusual at all. Addicts have an “all-in” personality.
When you are living clean and sober and funneling that energy to good things, you can absolutely crush it in the gym, work, school, and pretty much anything in life. But if that energy gets directed to substances, that’s when the dark times happen and happen fast.
You are never really cured of addiction, you just have to keep it chained up in a box every day and realize that it’s something that is out to get you. You can’t even have one drink – that’s how serious it is. I wish this guy well. It’s the hardest thing to deal with, way harder than even playing hockey at his level.
Sober for 33 years – basic 12 Steps is the ‘tool box’.
Have to want change, admit you’re unable to control your behaviors, is the beginning.
Not an easy road to travel yet the farther you proceed the ‘habit’ of abstinence becomes familiar.
Hope he gets there!
It ain’t booze that’s the problem
Works with drugs too. Or life…..