The Avalanche made a statement on the Val Nichushkin situation with what they did in the locker room. This is your Denver Sports Daily for May 14th! Let's go!
You bring up a great point separating the human element from the hockey player. You want Val to be happy, healthy, and fulfilled in life off the ice, and wish the best for him and his family while he deals with his problems. BUT..... he's burned the team in the playoffs two years in a row and that's incredibly disappointing considering we're in the peak of our star players' window. (They are getting older...) He's such a critical component to the team and I had him as a serious conn smythe candidate if we advanced through to the finals. Despite what Bednar said about how he thought this didn't affect the team, I completely disagree. They looked totally deflated out there last night. Sad.
As someone who has dealt with addiction in my family. It is a family matter. It is never the responsibility of the employer to stand by the addict. If they do awesome! As an Avs fan, I can have compassion for Val, but he must leave the organization immediately. The Avs need to move forward and building that championship pedigree without Val. Clearly there is anxiety in his life, perhaps an anniversary date that coincides with playoff season. Whatever the reason, close this Colorado chapter and go deal with it.
It is a professional hockey business, this is bad for business, awful to watch as a fan, but worst of all is the time you have wasted from the guy on the couch all the way up to Joe Sakic, especially Zach Parise. How can this team consider trusting Val again? This needs to be surgical and clean, remove him from the organization, surely this breaches the code of conduct in his contract. You can not waste more of our star players peak with this.
Im a Dallas fan and im happy they won last night but ah.. i have no idea who they were playing because that was not the colorado avalanch team i know. Not at all.
I love Val, I hope he gets the help he deserves. Definitely frustrating losing Val again. I don’t count losing him in January as a strike against him as he asked for help himself but twice in the playoffs is a concern. I’d consider 1 more shot for him. But he is still an Av at the moment so he needs our support both on and off the ice
He can be sick along with selfish. I'm mad AF at him, but trying to give him some grace and understanding. I don't want him back in an Avs sweater but I hope he gets the help he clearly needs.
I get your frustrated , angry and disappointed. But have some grace and compassion. Vals a human with struggles just as you and I have our own struggles. What would be a better response is support someone in the hard times not just the good times.
