With NHL training camps opening, players are meeting with members of the media for the first time in a while. That includes Valeri Nichushkin of the Colorado Avalanche, who talked with reporters for the first time since leaving his team mid-series in the first round of the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Nichushkin was, of course, asked what happened, and made his first public comments on the incident.
To jog your memory, Nichushkin mysteriously left Seattle during his team's first round series against the Kraken. At the time, all that was known is that he was whisked to the airport with a security detail. Later on, the police report showed authorities found an extremely intoxicated woman in Nichushkin's hotel room. She was so drunk that a team doctor who attended to the scene called an ambulance, fearing she may take a turn for the worse. Nichushkin was asked about the woman today. HIs answer made it clear he's not interested in releasing details.
The police report said the woman was from Russia, but born in Ukraine. She said some bad people had stolen her purse, which also contained her passport. The officer who wrote the report said at the time he was not aware of any family connection between Nichushkin and the woman.
