Colorado Avalanche forward Valeri Nichushkin returned after missing nearly a month and a half and his team is glad to have him back.
The last game Valeri Nichushkin played with the Colorado Avalanche was a 3-0 win against the reigning Stanley Cup Champion Vegas Golden Knights on Jan. 10. The 28-year-old Russian left the team sometime after to enter the NHL's Player Assistance Program.
On Monday, the NHL announced that Nichushkin was cleared to return to the team and resume practice but not yet cleared for play.
"Awesome having Val (Nichushkin) back. We obviously missed him out there. But you know, it's nice for him to get right and get his mind in a good place. So it's nice having him back," Logan O'Connor said after Nichushkin's first practice back with the team. "We're here as a support system for him and just seeing him face-to-face and being able to talk to him more is obviously always great, to have another guy come back and get healthy and get out there on the ice and start working his way back in the lineup here."
Colorado's top line and No. 1 defenseman have missed his presence as a big part of the team in different areas on and off the ice.
"For him to be back, it's awesome to see him around. Hopefully he can kind of get back in shape and figure it out. But he's got to take the time that he needs. And like I said, we all respect him. And it's a big part for us," Cale Makar said.
"Great, yeah one of our best players. Great to have him back ... he's a great guy, great teammate, obviously awesome player so it's great to have him back around and look forward to getting him back in the lineup," Nathan MacKinnon said.
"The way he works and I think his work ethic everybody has a lot of respect for that — he works off the ice and on the ice. So that's what we need," Mikko Rantanen said.
The Avs went 8-7-2 in the 17 games without Nichushkin and their power play has been sporadic at best. But the most important thing for the team and head coach Jared Bednar is for Nichushkin to be in a good place and when he's ready, to get back to work.
"I mean obviously is a huge part of our team, right? I mean you guys have seen what he does for us on the ice and great having him back in the locker room," Bednar said. "Record is pretty glaring when you look at what he's in our lineup and when he's not in our lineup, it's goes to show you how much he means to our team. So hopefully get him back here in a good headspace — a lot like (Samuel) Girard has come back and seems refreshed, reenergized, feels great and is playing great. So hopefully we can do the same for Val."
Watch what the players and coach said in the video above.
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