News broke last night prior to game 4 that Avalanche forward Valeri Nichushkin has been suspended for 6 months by the NHL.
Nichushkin has been suspended for breaking stage 2 of the NHL player assistance program and will now enter stage 3 and he will be suspended from playing any games for the next 6 months.
Avs head coach Jared Bednar spoke on the matter saying the team wants what's best for him but they need to focus on the task at hand.
Jared Bednar on Nichushkin:
"There's still 20+ guys in that room that care, that want to win, that are here, and that's what we have to focus on.
It hurts our team. There's no question.
... I want what's best for him... We hope that he can find some peace and get help."
Star defenseman Cale Makar spoke to the media about the matter as well saying that the team needs to focus on the series even if it is very unfortunate.
Cale Makar on how the sudden Nichushkin news could affect a team:
He didn't use a lot of words but said a lot.
From the way Nichushkin's coach and teammates spoke, it seems like they are a bit annoyed at the fact that they have to deal with this once again since the exact same situation happened last year in the playoff.
Hopefully the Avs will find a way to move forward without Nichushkin but it will not be easy as he is currently their leading scorer in the playoffs.
