Panthers star defenseman Aaron Ekblad will miss the remainder of the regular season and first two games of the postseason after being suspended 20 games for violating the terms of the NHL/NHLPA Performance Enhancing Substances Program, the league announced today. The suspension is without pay is accompanied by “mandatory referral to the NHL/NHLPA Program for Substance Abuse and Behavioral Health for evaluation and possible treatment.”
Suspensions for PEDs are quite rare in the NHL, but based on previous precedent, the length is to be expected. Nate Schmidt, now Ekblad’s teammate in Florida, was the most recent player to be suspended under the program while he was with the Golden Knights in training camp in 2018. He was also handed out a 20-game ban to begin the regular season, during which time he inked a six-year extension with Vegas.
Ekblad is just the sixth player to be suspended for PEDs since the 2012 lockout. Unlike in Schmidt’s case, where he testified he “could not have received any performance enhancement benefit from the trace amount that inadvertently got into my system,” Ekblad will not appeal the suspension and released the following statement (via Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman):
The news that I had failed a random drug test was a shock. Ultimately, I made a mistake by taking something to help me recover from recent injuries without first checking with proper medical and team personnel. I have let my teammates, the Panthers organization and our great fans down. For that, I am truly sorry. I have accepted responsibility for my mistake and will be fully prepared to return to my team when my suspension is over. I have learned a hard lesson and cannot wait to be back with my teammates.
The 29-year-old will not carry a cap hit for the remainder of the regular season, PuckPedia confirms, although that’s somewhat moot with the trade deadline now in the rearview. He ends his regular season on a six-game point streak (seven assists, plus-three rating) and has 3-30–33 in 56 games on the year, a raucous return to form for the veteran. He’d seen his point totals drop steadily in the past few years as his power-play opportunities dwindled, bottoming out with a career-low 18 points in 51 games last year before Florida’s run to the Stanley Cup. He’s reclaimed top power-play minutes this year after Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Brandon Montour left in free agency, though, and his performance (and ice time) have benefitted as a result.
His top-pairing minutes alongside Gustav Forsling will now presumably go to fresh trade pickup Seth Jones down the stretch. The Cats still have plenty of meaningful games remaining as they try to battle out the Maple Leafs and Lightning for the Atlantic Division title and secure home ice through the first two rounds of the playoffs, simultaneously avoiding having to play both powerhouses in Tampa Bay in Toronto in back-to-back rounds as they attempt to gain a third consecutive Eastern Conference Final berth. Jones, who’s averaged 21 minutes per game since the trade while quarterbacking the Panthers’ second power-play unit, is still looking for his first point in a Florida uniform.
It’s worth noting Ekblad, the Panthers’ franchise leader in games played among defensemen, may have ended his regular-season tenure in South Florida on a sour note. He’s a pending unrestricted free agent and could head elsewhere on the open market in July.
Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.
How long do we have to pretend that all athletes aren’t using PEDs?
After watching enough Mike Israetel videos on YouTube I now see where almost all NFL and NBA players and the vast majority of MLB players are, I still think it’s a minority in the NHL.
Watch the post game, shoulder pads off interviews, most hockey players are decidedly not jacked.
Ekblad is, though, so…here we are.
Well that’s why it’s so stupid, he was likely taking BPC157 or microdosing hgh or something else to prevent injury in a sport where injury is way too common. It’s insane for the NHL to punish players for (getting caught) taking care of their health.
Too be fair NHL has long had a problem with the usage of pain killers that sports outside the of NHL/NFL haven’t had
Someone listens to Joe Rogan
Millions of people evidently do.
In the land of 80 IQ’s, the bug eating guy with CTE and an 82 IQ is King, I guess.
How the mighty…
So, his punishment is plenty of rest and time in the gym before the playoffs…?
That’ll teach him.
Well, he does lose $1M+…
I believe he’s a free agent after this year. He may have cost himself big time
What are you thinking, hanging the guy in the town square?
Ridiculous he is allowed back for playoffs. At least MLB forbids that crap.
We want our boys to go out and play all playoffs with broken bones but heaven forbid they take anything to help heal themselves
Good thing Zito traded for Seth Jones.
He was his unofficial replacement anyway. They really weren’t hiding that very well
Aaron Ekblad should be suspended for the playoffs too but the NHL tends to be lenient with the Florida Panthers it seems smh. They were ridiculously lenient with the penalty calls in their favor during the playoffs last season for them but that’s another story altogether so I’ll digress on that.
Lenient how? This suspension matches the suspension of the most recent case. That seems incredibly fair to me.
How can you say that without having any idea what he allegedly took?
I’m not sure this is them just being lenient on panthers but I do absolutely agree that you should not be playoff eligible that’s the policy the MLB has implemented
Don’t be such a hypocrite. If it was your beloved Kucherov or Hedman or last year with Vasilesky then your opinion would be different. Ekblad made a mistake and is paying a price for said mistake.
Cry cry cry
They also have had a much bigger problem with it
So the folks at NHL headquarters decided to place their bets with the Panthers? Why would they do this to the detriment of all other franchises? Seems that you may be making things up. A few years ago, members of your paranoid clan were saying the sam thing about the Lightning, Avs, Knights, and pretty much every other team that has hoisted the Cup. Methinks you take hockey and yourselves a bit too seriously.
Pretty simple…Next time check.
“Ultimately, I made a mistake by taking something to help me recover from recent injuries without first checking with proper medical and team personnel.”
What he meant was “I took something that everyone in the NHL takes but we all have to pretend that it’s bad.”
If that were true, why did the NHL decide to nail him?
I mean, I watch hockey for entertainment value.
I can’t be the only person that wants to see what a league of roided-up monsters would look like.
If that’s what you want to see, watch football.
But I don’t like football. I like hockey.
Steroids? What year do you think it is?
This taints the Panthers Cup win last year.
It doesn’t, at all
Right. Of all sports, hockey is the least impacted by this, which is probably why you don’t see it much
Moron
You mad the Juice-Cats advantage has finally been revealed to the public?
Under that logic, every Stanley Cup in the past 20 years has been tainted.
Did every team have someone get caught cheating other than the Juice-Cats and Anabolic Aaron?
Gods if you were any more bitter I’d confuse you for a miserable old pensioner.
Not even a little as bitter as pampers fans coping because their championship is tainted forever.
Get caught,no but if under your logic one person on the team using a substance they shouldn’t use is enough to taint the whole Stanley Cup win then likely every Stanley Cup is Tainted even if someone wasn’t actually caught.
I mean, by your logic, one guy cheating is fine.
Call me crazy but a major piece on the defending champs getting caught juicing is majorly bad for hockey bro.
You’re literally the only one saying that. I could care less about Florida, and I believe this doesn’t taint anything.
Juicing? LOL, what you think it’s 1999 and he went to BALCO? Is he going to be listed in the new “Mitchell Report” too? You’re a clown dude.
I have nothing against the panthers, often even prefer them to other teams I don’t specifically root for. Love watching them play, enjoy Maurice’s snark and cursing. Overall I like the roster moves. Dunno about some rumors I heard about how they sequestered seats against oilers fans last year, but like I said, I dunno. It’s a rumor I wasn’t compelled to investigate. Anyway, I digress. Just wanted to say I’m so 100% on-board with calling them the “Juice-Cats” for a long time. I love that. A+
Lmao he can still play in this years playoffs. That should not happen.
20-18=2
So, yes it should happen. Sorry that your phone doesn’t have a calculator app.
Players get beat down so much during the season. It’s honestly kind of archaic to not allow players to able to take whatever they want so they can play as much as possible and at their best. And no I’m not saying players should be shooting up Deca or Tren to become mutants. But if a player is hurt or injured they should be able to take whatever they want on record.
Exactly. Especially in a sport where tren or any of the substances with safety issues or whatever would be a disadvantage anyways.
So the bottom line is, he will be back for the playoffs , hopefully refreshed and injury free .