Avalanche’s Nichushkin Placed in Stage 3 of the Player Assistance Program

Nichushkin was gone for nearly two months of the regular season as he received care from the NHLPA/NHL Player Assistance Program for issues that were not disclosed. This was on the heels of missing the final five games of a playoff loss last season for what the team explained as personal reasons.

In a first-round playoff series last spring against Seattle, Nichushkin abruptly left the team with only the explanation that it was for personal reasons. His absence started after officers responded to a crisis call at the Four Seasons Hotel in Seattle before Game 3. A 28-year-old woman was in an ambulance when officers arrived, and medics were told to speak with an Avalanche team physician to gather more details.

The report, obtained at the time from the Seattle Police Department by The Associated Press, said the Avalanche physician told officers that team employees found the woman when they were checking on Nichushkin. The physician told officers the woman appeared to be heavily intoxicated, too intoxicated to have left the hotel “in a ride share or cab service,” and requested EMS assistance.