TORONTO – “No. No. Not today. I have to go to the gym and lift weights. We’ll talk in Toronto. I promise.”
This was the sixth exchange between Valeri Nichushkin and a reporter over a three-week period ending with the hulking 24-year-old politely saying he did not want to speak. What made this moment different is Nichushkin set up a time and place in which he would potentially share more about himself.
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Finding out any kind of information about the quietest man in the Colorado Avalanche’s dressing room would be a revelation for those who are around him every day. Except Vladislav Kamenev and Nikita Zadorov. They know Nichushkin better than anyone else throughout the organization because they all hail from the same nation, speak the same language and spend so much time together, whether it is in Denver or on the road.
Even on the way to the airport when Kamenev was driving his blue BMW crossover with Nichushkin riding shotgun while the 6-foot-5 Zadorov was in the backseat behind Nichushkin.
“It’s my car, so I had to drive,” Kamenev said. “And Valeri is older, so he gets the front seat!”
Kamenev shared that anecdote days after one of his closest friends on the roster scored for the second time in three games after enduring a goal drought of more than 90 games.
Nichushkin scored again Tuesday. But it was more than just his third goal in five games. Or the fact he was the trending topic on Twitter in Denver. Nichushkin and his long stride separated from the pack for a short-handed breakaway goal that proved to be the game-winner in a 3-1 win against the Toronto Maple Leafs at Scotiabank Arena.
The Leafs had 17 seconds remaining on the power play when Jason Spezza launched a slap shot that led to his stick breaking and the puck making its way to the blue line. Morgan Rielly appeared to have control but intersected with Spezza, who was attempting to return to the bench for a stick.
From it came the opening Nichushkin needed.
He was already the high forward on the penalty kill who then aggressively tracked the puck before plucking it away from Rielly to create a breakaway from seemingly nothing. He took control from beyond the famed Mr. Sub dasher-board ad in front of the Leafs bench and took off.
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Seeing Nichushkin grab possession and sprint toward the net made the entire Avalanche bench stand up.
Nichushkin did not make any elaborate dekes or moves. He simply saw an opening Frederik Andersen did not have covered before firing a wrist shot for the go-ahead goal with 13:20 remaining in the third period.
Television cameras captured the nearly entire Avalanche bench smiling at what they had just witnessed. Nazem Kadri has delivered in many a moment in Toronto, yet the joy he showed for Nichushkin was as if he had scored himself. Pierre-Edouard Bellemare and Matt Calvert were beyond elated; they were hugging after watching their linemate come through again.
“There was some sort of miscommunication at the blue line,” said Avalanche forward Matt Nieto, who was penalty-killing next to Nichushkin before the goal. “I’ve never seen that before. There was a guy with no stick. They had a D-back there and there was some sort of confusion and there’s a loose puck, and Val just took off and buried it. Really nice goal, and a huge goal for us. It was the game-winning goal.”
Knowing Nichushkin can use his speed to burst through on net is something the Avalanche have seen many times in practice and again when he scored last Friday on a breakaway in a 5-2 win over the Chicago Blackhawks at United Center.
Zadorov has seen this longer than anyone, going back to when they were 8-year-old children growing up in Russia at a time when Nichushkin apparently dominated everyone.
“All of his, all of his goals were like this,” Zadorov said. “He just destroyed those D’s wide all the time. I remember him since we were 8 years old. That’s all he’s been doing. He was like the biggest guy with the hardest shot. He could just take you wide or just get in the zone and shoot it so hard that the goalie couldn’t stop it when we were kids.”
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What was Nichushkin like at 8 years old? Was he just some large kid going around beating the piss out of everyone?
“Yeah. We thought he was a fake age all the time,” Zadorov said. “It happens in Russia sometimes. But I guess not. But maybe some people still think about that. That’s what we thought. It was, ‘Oh, Nichushkin’s two years older than us. That’s why he’s so good!’”
Raw strength, skill, speed and size were all attributes that made Nichushkin a star back home and a prospect about whom Jaromir Jagr once claimed, “This guy is going to be the best in the world one day.”
Those were some of the reasons the Dallas Stars selected him 10th in 2013, which was the same year the Avalanche selected future superstar center Nathan MacKinnon with the first pick, the Buffalo Sabres drafted Zadorov at No. 16 and the Washington Capitals snagged Andre Burakovsky at No. 23.
Nichushkin scored 14 goals and 34 points over 79 games during his rookie year. Injuries and inconsistent play led to his stalling at times with the Stars before he returned to Russia to play two campaigns with CSKA Moscow in the KHL. He returned to Dallas in the 2018-19 season, going without a goal while mustering 10 assists over 59 games.
Dallas moved on from Nichushkin, and it appeared the rest of the league had too until Colorado surprisingly signed him to a one-year deal.
Initially, it was viewed as a depth move, someone who could add size on the flank and be used whenever there was an injury.
The Avalanche have played 27 games, and Nichushkin has played in all but four.
He provides those aforementioned elements while adding a defensive reliability that has made fourth-year Avalanche coach Jared Bednar trust him in penalty-killing situations.
“We saw him in Dallas,” Bednar said. “He got drafted as a skill player, a guy that can score, has hands, and obviously, that’s why he went so high. Then, he was turned into more of a checker with a little bit less opportunity in Dallas, and we liked him from that aspect, and we felt like he had more to give on the offensive side.
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“Now we’re seeing it a little bit here, and hopefully that can continue.”
Getting to the net was never the issue this season for Nichushkin. It was finding a way to finish those chances. That is something he appears to be doing. Plus, he is making an argument to be the latest player from another team who is benefiting in a different environment, akin to Burakovsky, Joonas Donskoi, Philipp Grubauer and Kadri, among others.
But who the hell is this guy? Other than some 8-year-old colossus who creamed kids to the point they thought he should be riding a dirt bike instead of sending people home embarrassed?
Apparently, he likes to lift weights. Like, a lot.
Valeri Nichushkin was not messing around on the weights after the game. #Avs pic.twitter.com/vJLOhGp2yT
— Ryan S. Clark (@ryan_s_clark) November 20, 2019
“I’ve always done a lot of gym work. I think usually more than anyone on my team,” Nichushkin said. “I’ve always been like that. I had hip surgery a few years ago so I didn’t lift, but now I feel really good and so I’ve done the gym a lot.”
Nichushkin’s constant presence in the weight room coupled with his physique leads Tyson Jost to concede he actually was scared the first time he saw his new teammate in the preseason.
“I thought this guy could deadlift me and throw me across the room,” said Jost, who weighs 191 pounds.
Jost said Nichushkin is in the conversation for being the strongest player on the team, adding Zadorov would probably think he’s No. 1.
But doesn’t Zadorov believe he’s the best at everything?
“Yeah, he does,” Jost said with a smile.
One more question: Among Nichushkin, Mikko Rantanen and Zadorov, which one looks like they would make the best henchman in a James Bond film?
“Val, for sure. 100 percent,” Jost said. “I could see Val in the new John Wick movie that just came out. For sure, Val.”
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Jost, at the start of the interview, was asked about Nichushkin, and his first name was pronounced as it is in Russia. This gave Jost a bit of insight.
“So, it’s Val-eri?” Jost said. “Val-eri. Like Valerian Steel from “Game of Thrones.” All right. Go on.”
Whether it is Calvert, J.T. Compher or Jost, all of them describe Nichushkin as the quiet presence in the dressing room who has indeed engaged with his teammates. They have wanted him to feel part of the dressing room as he continues finding comfort within the team regardless of the language barrier.
“He tries his best to pick up English and can still communicate pretty well on the ice,” Compher said. “For me, it’s trying to be friendly. It’s hard when you don’t know someone’s full personality because you can’t talk to them in their native language. But whenever I am around him, he’s having fun and having a good time.”
Zadorov, days after Nichushkin scored his first goal, spoke for six minutes about his childhood friend and his quiet personality.
“In Russian, he’s not a quiet guy,” Zadorov said. “I feel like he’s quiet because it’s a different language. If you would speak our language, you’d get a little closer to him.”
Nichushkin and Zadorov were on different national teams as they grew up together and became really good friends. That dynamic has continued in Denver with the notion Kamenev is added to their group.
Zadorov has taken on the role of being the leader of the group given his gregarious nature. Kamenev is quiet in group settings like interviews but is a chatterbox in a one-on-one setting regardless of language. Nichushkin is the funniest of the three whenever they are together.
Kamenev’s and Nichushkin’s stalls at the team facility are next to each other, and they speak all the time. They go to dinner together in Denver with Zadorov, who has a family there, joining them when the Avalanche are on the road. In fact, they are all so close that Kamenev was living with Zadorov until recently getting his own place.
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“I knew him before because we trained together in Russia during the summer,” Kamenev said of Nichushkin. “I knew him, but now I know him a little more.”
Kamenev says Nichushkin likes movies because he is always watching them on the team plane. Clearly, he likes lifting weights.
“Yeah, he loves that,” Kamenev said. “More than other guys. Definitely more than me, but it should be the opposite way!”
Nichushkin’s personality comes across for anyone paying attention. He got off the ice at morning skate only to see a herd of media talking to Kadri, who was making his return to Toronto. Nichushkin just comically shook his head before making his way to his locker.
Minutes later, he had a reporter asking if this would be the day they could speak.
It was.
He opened up for three minutes about how he remains quiet because he’s still developing his English, adding he views this dressing room as “my friends” while trying to be one of the funniest personalities on the team.
Nichushkin said the dinners with Kamenev and, when he’s available, Zadorov mean a lot to him because he values that time.
Of course, there’s a discussion about the weights before he gets asked one more question about his tattoos.
He has a black tribal mask on his left pectoral muscle, with the rest being surrounded by a tribal print in the same design. He also has a tattoo on his right wrist with a pocket watch shrouded in its own elaborate pattern.
“I can’t tell you!” he says with a smile. “It’s a secret. It’s nothing bad. But it’s a secret. Maybe we’ll talk about it another time.”
(Photo of Nichushkin and Andersen: Nathan Denette / The Canadian Press via AP)
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