Avs Wrap: Control Of Series Swings To Colorado, But Nichushkin Leave Of Absence Now Swirls Overhead
First off, you know it has to be something pretty serious for a player to leave his team for personal reasons in the middle of a playoffs series. That, the Avalanche belatedly said after last night’s 6-4 Game 3 victory over the Seattle Kraken, was the case with Valeri Nichushkin.
We don’t know what those reasons are, and I’m not going to speculate as to what they might be. I’ve read some pretty far-out conspiracy theories as to why, but not going to amplify them here.
This morning, I asked the agent for Nichushkin if this absence might last a while, and the response I got was “can’t say.”
Let’s hope this isn’t some horrible personal situation for Big Val. As for the here and now, we’ll hopefully learn more on his status today from coach Bednar. If the Avs have to go a long time without No. 13, it’s going to be a huge loss. Let’s not kid ourselves. The team plays better when he’s around. He’s one of the top power forwards in the league, I would say, right now.
As I type, there have been no call-ups from the Colorado Eagles, who are also in the playoffs, in the second round. Let’s just hope for the best.
As for last night, I have some observations and notes and quotes:
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Dater On Avalanche to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.