What a pity that the Stanley Cup was not allowed to lift another Russian hockey player!

Nichushkin is the king of this playoff

The Colorado Avalanche won the Stanley Cup by beating the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 6 of the Finals.

Avalanche forward Valery Nichushkin became the hero of the final series and scored four goals! By the way, this is a repeat of the Colorado club record. Four goals in the last series were scored, for example, by current Avalanche general manager Joe Sakic. But no one else.

Nichushkin entered Game 6 with an injury he suffered in Game 5. After that, Big Val went for an X-ray, missed the warmup before Game 6 – and reporters noticed how Nichushkin limped as he walked across the Tampa arena.

Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar was asked if Nichushkin would play. He assumed so – but the intrigue lasted until the last minutes before the start of the meeting.

In Game 6, Nichushkin had a splendid moment to score a goal at 2-1. He was alone outside the gates of Andrei Vasilevsky and threw almost point-blank range. But he missed. It’s a shame, I was able to score a spectacular point and overtake Sakika.

During the handshake ceremony, Nichushkin and Vasilevsky hugged and talked about something. And then Valera lifted the Stanley Cup above his head. It was wonderful !

Well, the party has begun. Valera drank Stanley Cup champagne in ski goggles. Posed, coming out of the shower naked, with the “Champions of the NHL” belt. And then he was taken down the hall (already in costume) on a transport cart somewhere towards the exit.

It seems that Nichushkin will not sleep for several days. There will be a big party in Colorado when the Avalanche players return to Denver!

“This guy is worth $6 million a year”

It should be remembered that Nichushkin can become an unrestricted free agent this summer – his contract with Colorado has ended.

Athletic ranked Valery as the fifth most attractive player on the market after Johnny Gaudreau, Philip Forsberg, Nazim Kadri and Evgeni Malkin. This is what they write about the Russian:

“A power forward useful on both sides of the field and who can be expected around 60 points for the regular season? Maybe it’s just Valery Nichushkin.

He’s tall and strong, 193cm tall, and he’s very good at doing little things on the ice. It took him a while to find his footing in Colorado after his early career setbacks, but he has since made a name for himself in the analyst community. Last year was a stellar turning point as everyone noticed. Nichushkin dominated both attack and defense as he usually does. But this time he added speed, gaining 69 points. It was with limited power play time, and he ended up averaging 2.49 points in 60 minutes on par for the season. It is the 47th in the championship.

Unrestricted free agents come with a lot of risk, but they’re usually older players or hard-working hockey players. Nichushkin doesn’t fit into any of those categories – he’s 27, has a decent history of stellar base numbers, and this type of player – with the exception of Justin Abdelkader – looks pretty promising.

Nichushkin should be a solid forward on the front two lines for the next five years. An offer of around $6 million per season is more than fair for what this player has to offer. There may be concerns depending on the length of the contract, but there is room for growth if Nichushkin can build on what he did last season consistently. He has a knack for activating his teammates and has the potential to get a lot of power play time. So he’s a very interesting player.”

“They’ve got eight guys online at once in Colorado”

But we must not forget that there are two more Russian speakers in Colorado. Meet Eugene “Jay” Khaletsky, an Avalanche massage therapist who moved to North America from Kazakhstan 25 years ago.

And here’s Colorado forward Mikhail Maltsev, who played 18 games for the Avalanche this season, and mostly played for the AHL’s Colorado Eagles – and scored 48 (17+31) points in 56 games, in adding 6 to them (4+2) points in nine playoff games.

Maltsev was with the Colorado Avalanche during the NHL playoffs, increasing the depth of the roster. But he was never released on the ice. Here is what Misha himself wrote in his telegram channel:

“In Tampa, after practice, I went to the pool. There is nobody. Sakik is located two deckchairs further, Messier enters. You think, “Well, that’s me in the Hall of Fame.” My playoffs.

Since my odds of going out half a percent have dropped to 0.001, I really want the guys to win as soon as possible.

Were still working from training camp to showdown, more than talent. While here, I try not to miss. Crazy tension. A ton of experience.”

I was even sorry that Maltsev was never released in the Stanley Cup final. Even a minute is a championship ring, a family name on the side of a silver bowl, triumph and rejoicing. Remember that two years ago, just 10 minutes from the finals for Tampa, Alexander Volkov came out – and broke the bank.

But Maltsev was unlucky …

I talked about it with his friend Andrey Altybarmakyan.

– Too bad Misha was never released?

– Yes. It’s a ring, and many things at the same time. But, as I know, Colorado is very sensitive to such a situation. They have eight people lining up there who haven’t played a single game in this playoff yet. And there, somehow, they didn’t react very well to Misha Maltsev. He went over there, played for five or six minutes somewhere in the fourth link. But what can be a claim if the team plays well and wins everyone?

In my opinion, even those sitting in the reserve were immediately told, “If we win, then you immediately pack your bags and go wherever you want. And the team will rest. Well, it seems…

It’s interesting, but will at least the reserve Maltsev be allowed in the team party?

By the way, he is already 24 years old, and the contract with Avalanche has ended. I wonder where Michael will pursue his career next.