Aaron Ekblad suspended 20 games for PEDs

[Voight]

More Florida favoritism- so Ekblad misses the rest of the regular season and the first two games of round 1. Who cares? Gary of course won't hinder the Panthers from another deep run. This would actually mean something if it included the entire playoffs.

You realize the CBA limits what the league can do here right? They can't just suspend him for whatever amount of games they want to. Thats not how it works.

Ottawa somehow has to give up a first round pick for this….

Simple solution: Florida forfeits their cup to the Oilers and McDavid’s legacy is cemented.

... even tho EKblad didn't take PED's last season?

(Or at least was proven too...)

 

[Voight]

They caught someone?!?!?!? And I thought the entire point of the system was to prevent this from happening.




Someone at the NHL clearly needs to be fired for actually letting them catch someone. Shameful.

Its actually so hard for players in any league to get caught with how advanced modern medicine is, especially when you can buy the best of the best.

Case in point - when A-Rod was suspended in 2024 because of PED"s, he hadn't actually failed a test. He was caught because of a paper trail. Likewise, LeBron is obviously on some sort of PED and if you think otherwise, boy do I have a bridge to sell you.

Honestly it’d be fun to just allow all substances and watch supermutants fly around and take 150 mph shots

PED's are the reason baseball rebounded from the 94 Strike.

 

[BallardEra]

Looks like him and Ben Johnson got framed.

 

[Ratsreign]

The Florida Panthers., You’re *2024 NHL Stanley Cup Champions!
*For Cheating…


They won with him last year and it’s hard to believe him/probably the whole team wasn’t on the same “nutritional plan”. Big time asterisk there.

That’s bullshit my friend. One hell of an insane leap you are making here.

 

[Pablo El Perro]

Looks like him and Ben Johnson got framed.

With Johnson, I just assume Lewis and the rest of the pack were better at hiding it.

 

[Ignatius]

Is this the new LTIR to get someone ready for the playoffs?

 

[Chinaski89]

Doesn’t the NHL test for all drugs, but only punish for performance enhancing ones? I swear many moons ago - probably 10 years now- I read that nearly half the league tested positive for marijuana and that 33% of the league tested positive for cocaine and other stims.

 

[Number8]

I guess the good news is he'll have some extra time to heal up.

Probably has a lot of infected boils on his ass that need some attention.

 

[Il Stugotz]

Doesn’t the NHL test for all drugs, but only punish for performance enhancing ones? I swear many moons ago - probably 10 years now- I read that nearly half the league tested positive for marijuana and that 30% of the league tested positive for cocaine and other stims.

They don't care at all anymore about THC. There are several articles out there with players openly talking about using edibles and video gaming to wind down

NYT/Athletic Article

 

[bearcountry17]

That’s bullshit my friend. One hell of an insane leap you are making here.

I mean the dude wears a letter for that team. Those are the guys that set the examples for others and he was cheating…

 

[Based Anime Fan]

The Florida Panthers., You’re *2024 NHL Stanley Cup Champions!
*For Cheating…


They won with him last year and it’s hard to believe him/probably the whole team wasn’t on the same “nutritional plan”. Big time asterisk there.

FFS, really? Thats absurd.

It was probably something really minor. There are so many banned "PEDs" that are not actually performance enhancing. He said it was something that was for injury recovery. I could see the NHL banning someone for using something like BPC157, which would greatly help with the recovery of connective tissues but not actually increase on ice performance outside of just having healthy ligaments and tendons.

Didn't Zetterberg get hit in the 2014 Olympics for taking a decongestant?

 

[Ratsreign]

I mean the dude wears a letter for that team. Those are the guys that set the examples for others and he was cheating…

Go ahead and jump to all of the silly, baseless conclusions that you wish too.

 

[Alicat]

My guess is he used ADHD-meds without having TUE (therapeutic use exemption).

The kicker is that ADHD meds don't give you an advantage. Depending on what medication you take, it is essentially legalized speed. You get hyper focused and feel like the energizer bunny. The crash is brutal if not managed by a doctor.

If it was ADHD meds, then he deserves the suspension and should have to do PSA's on why takin prescription drugs taken improperly can have serious repercussions,

 

[Alicat]

FFS, really? Thats absurd.


Didn't Zetterberg get hit in the 2014 Olympics for taking a decongestant?

Nope. He had a herniated disc that knocked him out of the tournament.

Andreea Raducan of Romania was stripped of her all around gold medal in Women's gymnastics at the 2000 Sidney games for taking Sudafed.

 

[Chinaski89]

They don't care at all anymore about THC. There are several articles out there with players openly talking about using edibles and video gaming to wind down

NYT/Athletic Article

I’m aware of that. They shouldn’t care about any illicit drugs in my opinion. I did find it crazy how cocaine is claimed to be used by 2% of the US population in the last year (seems like a very low estimate from my experiences at bars) but 33% of NHL players lol

 

[cjm502]

FFS, really? Thats absurd.


Didn't Zetterberg get hit in the 2014 Olympics for taking a decongestant?

I think Backstrom for sudafed, and his levels were barely above the allowable limit.

 

[Jumptheshark]

Wonder if the Panthers got Jones knowing Ek was about to be suspended

 

[Ratsreign]

Wonder if the Panthers got Jones knowing Ek was about to be suspended

They would’ve went for him, anyway. Ekblad will be UFA this summer, and there no guarantees they will come to an agreement on an extension.

 

[TotalHomer]

Wonder if the Panthers got Jones knowing Ek was about to be suspended

If they knew a week before when they got Jones about the suspension there's no way the NHL would've let Eklbad play.

 

[lettuceAA]

They would’ve went for him, anyway. Ekblad will be UFA this summer, and there no guarantees they will come to an agreement on an extension.

He was probably too banged up last off season to really train extra for his UFA season. Was using PED's to counter that.

 

[Ratsreign]

He was probably too banged up last off season to really train extra for his UFA season. Was using PED's to counter that.

Idk, it was the year before where he was a total wreck by the end. He missed some time earlier this season, I think that may have been it. But, idk when the test was taken. It leads me to think the test had to be pretty recently for the suspension to happen now. I wish they would give more details about the when and the what...

 

[Jumptheshark]

If they knew a week before when they got Jones about the suspension there's no way the NHL would've let Eklbad play.

I could be wrong but two samples are given. Teams and individuals are notified to allow them to witness the second sample tested. If the second sample tests positive then the suspension is issued