An NHL player charged with doping due to his impressive physique had his case dropped by the International Ice Hockey Federation.

It’s been a year since Valeri Nichushkin, a Colorado Avalanche forward, has been dealing with doping problems. Recently, his doping case dropped. The Russian Hockey Federation said, “the IIHF informed Nichushkin that all charges against the player had been dropped.” Therefore, they will not suspend him for doping. “The results of additional analyses,” said the RHF. Indeed, Nichushkin made a drug test in a laboratory in Switzerland. During last year, he never got suspended for this and now that his doping case has dropped, he is at his best. A strong 6 feet and two inches guy who recently signed a $49 million eight-year contract with the Avalanche that will end when he will be 35 years old.

You can’t talk about this without mentioning the storyline of doping engaging Russia. They got banned from the Olympic Games because of massive doping on several Russian athletes. To this day, they are still banned, but individual Russian athletes compete without being affiliated with a country. Valeri was no exception until recently, even though NHL players weren’t at the Olympic Games last time.

Unfortunately for Valeri, he is still dealing with problems right now. His native country has declared war on Ukraine. Russia is seen as the bad guy in this war and it is not comfortable for a Russian player to be famous at this moment. Some people probably dislike him for being a Russian and insult him. He is trapped between the opinion of people about his country and supporting it since it is his native country. If he tries to take a position and tell to the journalist that he would like the war to be stopped, he would probably have problems with Russia.

Last year, the Colorado Avalanche won the cup. Valeri Nichushkin is a 2nd line forward for this team and he was one of the best in his team during the playoffs. He is considered a growing star with a lot of potentials, but he’s already very good. Avalanche’s fans are surely happy to finally hear after a whole year that one of their best forward is done with doping problems. A lot of Quebecers love this team because they were previously the Nordiques of Quebec.