Nichushkin suspended 6+ months

[Dennis]

I wish him nothing but the best. Addiction, no matter what it is, is something that is very hard to conquer and I hope he gets the help he needs.

Thinking strictly from a hockey stand-point, does his six month suspension start now, meaning he wont miss much of the regular season next year, assuming he is healthy enough to return (and the NHL allows him to of course)? Six months would mean he could return mid-November if it started today.

My understanding is that the 6 month suspension started yesterday

[GinFizz]

Or he’s just a selfish kid who doesn’t give a **** and puts himself ahead of his team? It’s funny how you all jump to his defense like you actually know him.

So easy to use addiction, mental illness, etc in our woke society a cop out that it’s laughable. Like all those murderers using the mental illness defense to avoid prison.

What’s he addicted to? drugs? Hookers? Parties? He’s done all of the above…

Wow... I hope this is a minority take. I also hope you never have to worry about someone close to you dealing with an addiction cause you will make it worse.

[hockeyrobot]

Or he’s just a selfish kid who doesn’t give a **** and puts himself ahead of his team? It’s funny how you all jump to his defense like you actually know him.

So easy to use addiction, mental illness, etc in our woke society a cop out that it’s laughable. Like all those murderers using the mental illness defense to avoid prison.

What’s he addicted to? drugs? Hookers? Parties? He’s done all of the above…

I do not approve of this message.

[2014olympicgold]

- It's 6 months from the failed test. And that's the earliest he can come back. The suspension can be extended.
- It's without pay. But his pay cheque wouldn't start until Game 1 of 2024-25 season. So he could be out 2.5months of pay and that's it for a 6month suspension
- His cap hit won't count against the cap (don't give Vegas any ideas).
- From the comments his teammates made post game, gives me the feeling they knew he wasn't sober.
- I wonder how often his drug testing is (change my opinion above if it's A LOT). If it's random and like monthly, I'd be kinda mad if I was the Jets.
- I hope he finds sobriety as it's not a linear road where dips and curves happen.
- I have little faith these professional leagues "Player Assistance Programs" are in place to get a player sober for life, but in place to get players sober enough to restart playing.
- If he fails again, he's suspended for at least a yr and reinstatement is not assured.

[Pengwin7]

Ooof. Bad timing for Colorado.
Hope he finds help.

[rtstr]

“He made his decisions. That’s all I’m going to say. He made his decisions.” -Jack Johnson

IÂ’m all for empathy but letÂ’s not pretend we actually know whatÂ’s going on. He could be struggling with an addiction, or he could be living reckless without respect for his team or role as a professional athlete. You donÂ’t need to be addicted to drugs to abuse them. They are different situations.

Based on JohnsonÂ’s comments IÂ’m not sure I can give Nuch much benefit of the doubt.

[dejeanneret]

Or he’s just a selfish kid who doesn’t give a **** and puts himself ahead of his team? It’s funny how you all jump to his defense like you actually know him.

So easy to use addiction, mental illness, etc in our woke society a cop out that it’s laughable. Like all those murderers using the mental illness defense to avoid prison.

What’s he addicted to? drugs? Hookers? Parties? He’s done all of the above…

Wow. I'm pretty surprised at this. You clearly don't understand addiction.

[dejeanneret]

“He made his decisions. That’s all I’m going to say. He made his decisions.” -Jack Johnson

IÂ’m all for empathy but letÂ’s not pretend we actually know whatÂ’s going on. He could be struggling with an addiction, or he could be living reckless without respect for his team or role as a professional athlete. You donÂ’t need to be addicted to drugs to abuse them. They are different situations.

Based on JohnsonÂ’s comments IÂ’m not sure I can give Nuch much benefit of the doubt.

Can you define what you mean by "abuse" drugs?

[2014olympicgold]

Can you define what you mean by "abuse" drugs?

All I can think of is "Recreational User" is still abusing drugs.

But a recreational user who isn't addicted to a drug isn't getting a failed drug test in while in a recovery program. Someone who is addicted to the drug is.

[blayze]

A lot of hurt feelings here which I understand and I know addicts personally so it's not like that world is foreign to me.

I'm not downplaying the legitimacy of addiction as a disease (which seems to be the perception based on the responses in this thread) - I'm simply sharing my opinion about Nichushkin's situation specifically. I think it's funny how everyone's wishing him all the best and making him out to be a victim. Get real folks. His teammates own comments say it all and they obviously know what's up. The guy made his choices.

[2014olympicgold]

A lot of hurt feelings here which I understand and I know addicts personally so it's not like that world is foreign to me.

I'm not downplaying the legitimacy of addiction as a disease (which seems to be the perception based on the responses in this thread) - I'm simply sharing my opinion about Nichushkin's situation specifically. I think it's funny how everyone's wishing him all the best and making him out to be a victim. Get real folks. His teammates own comments say it all and they obviously know what's up. The guy made his choices.

Kinda how I feel. The comments were blunt and it makes me feel like Nich has been protected by the team and his situation was worse than publicly known. I think it's fair to wish the guy the best and hope to turn it around but he's an adult and made his bed, now he has to sleep in it. This situation might save his career/life.

[rataylor22]

Kinda how I feel. The comments were blunt and it makes me feel like Nich has been protected by the team and his situation was worse than publicly known. I think it's fair to wish the guy the best and hope to turn it around but he's an adult and made his bed, now he has to sleep in it. This situation might save his career/life.

Using his teammates comments as a barometer would require relying on hockey players to both be knowledgeable about addictions and empathetic, neither of which I would baseline assume for an NHL player.

[dejeanneret]

Well, speaking for myself, it's not hurt feelings. It's more surprise about the (seeming, to me) lack of understanding of how addiction works and what appears to be an outright condemnation of Nichushkin and his character.

You are right -- I don't know him, I don't know his situation and he has made his choices. Those are all true. But I do know that when someone with a history of using any sort of mind altering substance can't stop using that substance in the face of known, ongoing or imminent adverse consequences on their life ... that is addiction.

I haven't read what his teammates have said about it. If they're upset, angry, disappointed, at wit's end ... that makes sense. He's let his teammates down. They were counting on him and now he's not there. That happens all the time with colleagues, friends, families and others of addicted people. That's why it's typically understood as a "family" disease. Everyone suffers. It negatively impacts not just the addicted, but those that count on him or her too.

So, all of this is to say that it's not letting him off the hook. It's just a sad situation all the way around. Nich has lost control of himself to an addiction, and it's adversely impacting him, his career, his teammates, and likely many others in his sphere. I would bet anything that it's completely involuntary at this point -- precisely because he still believes he can do whatever he's doing responsibly and handle it without negative consequences when (as this entire situation shows) he plainly cannot. And I'd bet that he's just as surprised as anyone when things go off the rails and the consequences start raining down.

That's the tragedy of addiction. And it knows no bounds of age, profession, social status, wealth or anything else.

[RizzeeDizzee]

The number of instances, and how close together they've been, do suggest a serious problem. You don't want to see this happen to anyone. Is he blameless? Of course not. But many who had so much to lose have likewise continued to shoot themselves in the foot so to speak. Still, he's a human being first and foremost, so you have to hope for the best.

[IRSlotsFull]

What may have started as a bad idea, choice, peer pressure, etc., there is no amount of money that fixes addiction nor mental illness 100% of the time & if the assistance program is the worst he gets, that isn't so bad for how much he's made and what he accomplished.
Stinks it hurts his team, the playoff series, and the fans, but if he were really in control he wouldn't choose to get a 6 month suspension in round 2 of the cup playoffs - you wait til you win then get drunk and pass out in the fountains around the capitol... too soon?

Seriously, hope Nich figures it out, gets help & support (whether or not he's ever able to return). Understand everyone's frustration & why they lash out at guys when it happens - no one wants to see it, and it makes it even tougher for the collective to deal with it.

Don't need to be a woke snowflake to see it's a problem, nor to have some empathy that it just kinda sucks all around.

- His cap hit won't count against the cap (don't give Vegas any ideas).

I hope, even with teams' unconventional use of the cap space through LTIR, no one would try doing that with the assistance program.