Chug-a-chug-a choo choo invokes the image of a cartoon Thomas the Train creeping up a steep incline. However, the locomotive that has left the station is not the anthropomorphized tank but a 6’4” Russian hockey player. Valeri Nichuchkin, dubbed Big Val for his colossal frame, but more visually descriptive as a “Chu Chu train” for a ferocious style of play akin to a freight train bulldozing his way down the ice rather than the rails.
Coming off a career-high Stanley Cup run in 2022 with 52 points and 15 playoff points, where he played the final two games with a broken foot, the Avs resigned Nichuchkin to an eight-year deal. However, Nichucshin’s injury carried into the 2023 season, where he missed 29 games and, most notably, didn’t play in the final five games of the 2023 playoffs. However, his absence in the playoffs wasn’t due to injury but to personal reasons. It’s hard not to speculate when his “personal reasons” came after an ambulance was called for an intoxicated woman in his hotel room. There was no disciplinary action taken by the team or the league, and little information has been given to the actuality of the events. He may have returned for the second round, but the Avs lost to Seattle, and we will likely never know more. As it should be. Bednar, the league, and his teammates have put it behind them, and it is unfair to conclude when we don’t have the facts. Just like that traumatic series, let’s forget about it.
After the injuries and his early playoff exit, it felt uncertain what level of play he would return to. Starting the season, it looked like he was fighting to find himself on the ice; however, after the birth of his first daughter on November 8, 2023, he began to show signs of his former self. Nichuchskin would agree that fatherhood agrees with him since he said, “I guess the baby brought me luck because I started to score.” Before the birth of his daughter, he had six points in 10 games, and in the 28 games after, he has 34 points. Nearly mid-way through the season with 39 games played, Nichuchkin has raked up 20 goals and 40 points. A majority of his goals have come while standing in front of the net; as Big Val said, “If you play around the net you will get some goals…we have so many big guys, stars. Probably other teams focus on them, forget about me in front of the net.” Another player that could also be found at the front of the net was Captain Landeskog, and with his continued absence, the Avs need that large presence to fill that missing void. With points in 12/14 games, including the only OT shootout goal for the win against Boston, it is clear Nichuchkin can be that player.
Nichuchkin joined the Avs in 2019 after being drafted to Dallas in 2013 (the same draft class as MacKinnon). He ended his rookie year with 34 points, but during the 2014 season, he underwent hip surgery and failed to agree on a new contract with Dallas. He returned to Russia in 2016, playing in the KHL for two years while the Stars still maintained his rights. He rejoined Dallas in 2018, but after not scoring a goal in 57 games in 2018-19, he was placed on waivers, where the Avs scooped him up. In November 2019, Nichuschkin scored his first goal in an Avalanche sweater: it was his first goal in two years. He scored 13 goals for the Avs that year, and the rest is history. With 41 games remaining, Nichushkin is only 12 points and five goals shy of a career-high, proving it isn’t just the player but the team. We rarely (ok, never) say it, but thank you, Dallas, for the gift of Big Val.
Both Steve Winwood and Amy Winehouse have sung about “Valerie’s” and while they aren’t about Russian hockey players, Big Valeri is certainly giving a lot to sing about for Avs fans. As for his opponents, let’s just say you’re not catching this train.