Colorado Avalanche lost top scorer Valeri Nitschuschkin on Monday (local time) for disciplinary reasons and then lost their home game in the National Hockey League (NHL) play-off against the Dallas Stars 5-1. Russian striker Nichuschkin was banned by the league and the NHLPA players’ union for at least six months. It was not disclosed which rules the 29-year-old “repeat offender” violated.
Nichushkin ended up in the league’s support program for players in need for the third time in 13 months. The program offers therapies and guarantees confidentiality. The Russian was already suspended once in April 2023 for an incident involving alcohol and a drunk woman in his hotel room (before a game in Seattle). This year, Nitschuschkin missed another two months from January to March because he had already been banned from the therapy program back then. Nitschuschkin scored nine goals in the current play-off. His team is now 1:3 behind in the conference semifinals against Dallas.
The New York Rangers, who have been confident for a long time, also have problems. They won the first seven playoff games, but recently suffered two defeats against the Carolina Hurricanes, which reduced the Rangers’ lead in the series from 3-0 to 3-2. The New York Rangers led 1-0 against Carolina until the 43rd minute, but then conceded four goals in 13 minutes and lost 4-1.
More dazu in National Hockey League
