Avs face playoff elimination in Game 5 against Stars on Wednesday night
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| Colorado Avalanche right wing Valeri Nichushkin (13) battles Dallas Stars defenseman Miro Heiskanen (4) for the puck during the second period of Game 3 of an NHL Stanley Cup second-round playoff series Saturday, May 11, 2024, at Ball Arena in Denver. (The Gazette, Christian Murdock) |
The Avalanche were equally blindsided by Valeri Nichushkin’s six-month suspension as everyone else.
Colorado on Monday morning fully expected the top-line winger to be available for Game 4 against the Stars. Then everything changed.
When did the Avs learn Nichushkin entered ‘Stage 3’ of the NHLPA player’s assistance program?
Coach Jared Bednar: “Sometime after pregame skate.”
Forward Jonathan Drouin: “I found out coming to the rink.”
Defenseman Cale Makar: “Just basically before the game.”
It’s impossible to ignore the mental hurdle of Nichushkin’s sudden absence before a deflating 5-1 loss to the Stars. Bednar gathered his team to address the elephant in the dressing room. Nichushkin — for the second time in consecutive playoff runs — had been removed from the team.
Bednar declined to agree that Nichushkin "let down” the Avalanche with his latest setback. But he provided a thorough analysis of how the team is feeling in the aftermath.
“Val is obviously struggling with something," Bednar said. “I have two thoughts. Yeah, it (stinks) for our team. We’ve got to turn the page. We’ve got to go play way better than we did today. There are still 20-plus guys in that room that care and want to win and that are here. That's what we have to focus on. It hurts our team. There's no question. He's a great player.
“And the second one is I've gotten to know Val as a person. I’ve gotten to know him as one of our teammates and I want what’s best for him. I want him to be happy and I want him to be content in his life — whether that is with our team or not with our team. I want the best for him and his family. I think all of our guys are the same. We hope that he can find some peace and get help. ... Hockey is not life and death, even though we treat it like it is. Val is a big priority. And our team is another one. Now, they are separated. They’re not together.”
Does Bednar envision a future where Nichushkin returns to the Avalanche?
“I have no idea,” he said.
There was a mixture of empathy and frustration among Nichushkin’s teammates.
“That's the stuff you don't really control,” Drouin said. “Obviously, (Nichushkin) made a decision. And it's going to (stink) not having him here. But you got to move on, or get ready for a game, and that was our only way.”
Now, the Avalanche face elimination Wednesday night in Game 5 at American Airlines Center.
“I think we’re just focusing on our job,” forward Andrew Cogliano said. “We’re in the second round of the playoffs here. This is tough business. This is our job. We’re giving it all we’ve got.”
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