Valeri Nichushkin placed in NHLPA assistance program stage 3 - suspended without pay for min. 6 months

[Mike C]

Really hope he gets the help he needs. But holly hell this is just crazy. Talk about letting the entire team down.

Not to mention his wife and kids

 

[DJN21]

Read and heard, and apologies for a dickish response. I try to be above such trolling behavior

I'm simply frustrated at multiple users here who think their wold view should be reality, instead of the other way around. I do indeed sympathize and empathize with addiction, despite what my comments apparently come across as. I'm trying to make my opinion (equally as dog water as those I'm interacting with) known that just because you think something is unfair doesn't absolve the guilty party from reniging. My frustration compounds when users make beyond absurd claims that someone who uses coke is on the same page as someone with cancer. I feel that they should wear the same insensitive goat horns that apparently I wear, because anyone that's ever dealt with cancer would agree with me: thems fightin' words.

And as dickish as I might come across, I'll state again, as I have in multiple times this thread: I'm DOT regulated. I'm p*ss tested, I'm breathalized, and I knew this when I applied because I was told this when I applied. Sign on the line or don't (see above statement about having compassion for addicts).

I don't want this thread to get locked for toxic posting. What I do want is for users to acknowledge reality, responsibility, and employment requirements, no matter how fair or unfair they think they are when they voluntarily agree to them.

Again, if any user feels like I'm a dick, or feels personally attacked, I profoundly apologize, because that's not my intent. I'm just trying to get you to give your head a shake.

I feel you this is all on Nuke no questions asked. I am also subject to random piss tests and don't use anything but nicotine and alcohol so maybe it's not my place to comment on. I lost my grandma to cancer about 2 months ago so I don't take that lightly either. A message board is a weird thing because it's so unimportant in the grand scheme of things yet touches so many different people going through different things/stages. Our comments might strike a chord with someone really struggling with addiction etc and its not our place to make them feel worse was my only intention in my comments. Cheers my friend! Stay healthy and happy!

 

[Mike C]

Did you just call cocaine a Performance Enhancer...?

The entire decade of the 1980s says hi!

Ever see videos of those tools shaking their groove thing in Studio 54? Hell yes, the tootski enhanced performance in many many ways

 

[Crazy8oooo]

Like I mentioned before if you’re addicted to something, even if you want to stop, it’s incredibly hard. Even having every resource available to you may not be enough in stopping the addiction. That’s why it’s now viewed as a disease. It’s incredibly insensitive to assume that he doesn’t want to get better. He very well could want to get better but has relapsed which is very common for those with additictions

Only, I never said he didn’t want to get better so why are you spinning my post into something it wasn’t? There are consequences to one’s actions. He’s been given chances. Despite whether he wants to quit or not, those consequences still apply.

 

[eartotheground]

Did you just call cocaine a Performance Enhancer...?

i remember in the navy having to deal with a guy that was coked up. took 4 guys to subdue one average sized guy, and he inflicted plenty of pain.

it dulls your sense of pain and makes you feel invincible while adding an energy rush. i'd say that's performance enhancing. (obvs in the short term)

 

[Filthy Dangles]

i remember in the navy having to deal with a guy that was coked up. took 4 guys to subdue one average sized guy, and he inflicted plenty of pain.

it dulls your sense of pain and makes you feel invincible while adding an energy rush. i'd say that's performance enhancing. (obvs in the short term)

Might as well call shots of high proof alcohol performance enhacing then

 

[Curufinwe]

He has millions of dollars and his name engraved on the Stanley Cup. He seems more like a winner.

At the rate he's going he stands to lose about 35 mil

 

[eartotheground]

Might as well call shots of high proof alcohol performance enhacing then

nah, alcohol quickly messes with your visual perception and reaction speed, and then the depressant kicks in. really not the same.

 

[LOFIN]

Might as well call shots of high proof alcohol performance enhacing then

Alcohol reduces your physical ability. Coke and amphetamines enhance it (for the short time period used). There's a reason militaries around the world have used these substances and some still do, especially with the air force.

 

[RefalancheStillLose]

i remember in the navy having to deal with a guy that was coked up. took 4 guys to subdue one average sized guy, and he inflicted plenty of pain.

it dulls your sense of pain and makes you feel invincible while adding an energy rush. i'd say that's performance enhancing. (obvs in the short term)

It was a godsend during my playing days. Didn't even know i had a fracture in my knee.

 

[Filthy Dangles]

Alcohol reduces your physical ability. Coke and amphetamines enhance it (for the short time period used). There's a reason militaries around the world have used these substances and some still do, especially with the air force.

It's beyond silly to suggest it's remotely athletically peformance enhancing. Anyone claiming it mgiht be has obviously never done it (which is a good thing however).

It'd be a good way to significantly increase youre risk of dying and having a heart attack or other serious medical event on the rink, that's for sure.

 

[serp]

Cocaine is considered a performance enchanching drug and is a Prohibited Substance under the World Anti-Doping Code for In-Competition use .

It's beyond silly to suggest it's remotely athletically peformance enhancing. Anyone claiming it mgiht be has obviously never done it (which is a good thing however).

It'd be a good way to significantly increase youre risk of dying and having a heart attack or other serious medical event on the rink, that's for sure.

Quite a few PED's can have that effect

 

[Arthur Morgan]

Might as well call shots of high proof alcohol performance enhacing then

how would that help a players performance?

Alcohol reduces your physical ability. Coke and amphetamines enhance it (for the short time period used). There's a reason militaries around the world have used these substances and some still do, especially with the air force.

I think the Nazi's used meth but Im not 100% on that. not sure it was coke though but I guess it would fall under the same category

 

[Nikki Potnick]

This is strike 3 for him. Quit on the Stars, and now 2 years running leaving his team at the most important time of year.

Hope he gets better, but he's had enough chances to right him off.

 

[LOFIN]

I think the Nazi's used meth but Im not 100% on that. not sure it was coke though but I guess it would fall under the same category

They did, but it was retired from mass issue after the invasion of France. Turns out that while it does improve your performance, turning every grunt into a meth addict isn’t ideal.

Finland also issued methamphetamines, at first to just LRRP guys, later during the big Soviet offense of 1944 to basically everyone.

 

[ZJuice]

Did you just call cocaine a Performance Enhancer...?

I like how all your posts are saying everything is hunky dory when his team literally didn't know where he was right before a playoff game last year that he wound up missing because of this problem.

Sounds like a liability waiting to happen again

The below is just a rumour from living/working with people that hung out with Fuhr.
He allegedly joked that it made the puck look like a beach ball

 

[Number8]

Jack Johnson's quote definitely had that vibe.

Jack Johnson has every right to be angry and imply that behavior is indeed a choice. Addiction is not, I agree. However, the choices one makes, whether under the influence or not, are indeed our own and we all have to expect to be held accountable for the choices we make.

I’ve been sober for many years with good reason. The amends I’ve tried to make for the choices I made and regretted never once started with “I was a drunk and that’s why I did xyz…..”. If they had, they should/would have been received with deaf ears.

He’s made his bed. Now the question is is he sick and tired of what his affliction does to his life and the people around him.

If the answer to that is yes, he might have a chance to have a life. If not he’ll struggle to have any peace on or off the ice.

He’s fortunate to have money and a strong lifeline (NHLPA program) that many in his situation do not. If he’s wise, he’ll hang onto that lifeline with a death grip. Regardless , a career in the NHL is waaaay down the list of priorities for him or the people around him.

 

[serp]

how would that help a players performance?


I think the Nazi's used meth but Im not 100% on that. not sure it was coke though but I guess it would fall under the same category

The Meth was named Pervitin was advertised as cure for all kinds of stuff for example as cure for depression or even just as remidy if you were tired

 

[LOFIN]

The Meth was named Pervitin was advertised as cure for all kinds of stuff for example as cure for depression or even just as remidy if you were tired

Kinda like heroin used to be available for everyone from the pharmacy, and prescribed for basically everything.

Things changed some times after WW2

 

[eartotheground]

The Meth was named Pervitin was advertised as cure for all kinds of stuff for example as cure for depression or even just as remidy if you were tired

'i stayed up all night vacuuming the eastern front'

 

[Strangle]

You think not, I think yes... for me it is true. I've helped many people get and stay sober and have seen tons more fail. It's a complex issue and misunderstood by many which is fine

I just know from my own journey that it's not as simple for most addicts to just decide to stop and just stop

Yes it can be done and yes there is work involved but it's not as easy as some may think

Being ‘true’ in your mind has nothing to do with the objective reality being that it is not true

We don’t just invent our own realities and then impose it on everyone else.

Once someone is addicted, the drugs do take over a large amount of control. What people are telling you is that becoming addicted itself is a choice you made. It’s a choice all addicts make.

Somehow, I’ve managed to not become addicted. Do you know why? Because of choices I made to say, not stick a needle full of heroin into my arms.

See how easy that is?

 

[Grigowski]

Talk about letting the entire team down.

Twice!!! Last year in Seattle, this year even worse.....

 

[Zbynek]

All the people who think Nichushkin should be banned from Hockey can't seem to answer whether or not Grant Fuhr should be removed from the Hockey Hall of Fame for admitting to being coked up while playing hockey.


Fuhr is in the HHOF even though he was on drugs while he played.
Nichushkin should be banned from hockey because he has a substance abuse problem.

No one who wants Nichushkin banned can't seem to see the hypocrisy and refuse to admit it.

Are "all the people who want Nichuskin banned" in the room with us right now?

Reality is he won't need to be banned. He won't have any takers from GMs around the league once his contract is rescinded, and he'll be in the KHL by this time next year.

 

[DisgruntledHawkFan]

Cocaine is considered a performance enchanching drug and is a Prohibited Substance under the World Anti-Doping Code for In-Competition use .



Quite a few PED's can have that effect

Isn't marijuana considered a PED?

 

[DisgruntledHawkFan]

Being ‘true’ in your mind has nothing to do with the objective reality being that it is not true

We don’t just invent our own realities and then impose it on everyone else.

Once someone is addicted, the drugs do take over a large amount of control. What people are telling you is that becoming addicted itself is a choice you made. It’s a choice all addicts make.

Somehow, I’ve managed to not become addicted. Do you know why? Because of choices I made to say, not stick a needle full of heroin into my arms.

See how easy that is?

As an addict it's more complicated then that. I'm powerless over alcohol but it's absolutely a choice I make to stay sober today and every day. Being an addict isn't a choice. Genetic predisposition and a bunch of other factors. Getting and staying sober is the choice.