The Colorado Avalanche are planning to play the final two games prior to the All-Star break without Semyon Varlamov.
With the club set to take to the ice in San Jose and Los Angeles on Tuesday and Wednesday, the goaltender remained in Denver to appear at a district court civil case filed against him by his former girlfriend.
Varlamov was arrested on kidnapping and assault charges back in October 2013, but they were dropped two months later due to a lack of definitive evidence. A civil suit was launched in October 2014, claiming Varlamov had beaten his former girlfriend for years prior to the arrest.
According to Tom McGhee of The Denver Post, the former girlfriend testified before a jury Tuesday that Varlamov, after kicking and dragging her, said, "If we were not in America, I could have killed you."
As the Avalanche prepared for a game against the Sharks, head coach Patrick Roy said Varlamov will definitely not join the team for the remainder of the road trip, thereby effectively ruling him out Wednesday.
Roy declined to comment on Varlamov's situation. "Everybody knows what it is and there's not much I can say," he said, according to Terry Frei of The Denver Post.
Calvin Pickard is expected to start in his stead, although he was dealing with an illness that kept him away from the morning skate.
