It's been a long month for Aaron Ekblad. The worst is almost over.
The Florida Panthers defenseman spoke out for the first time Saturday since being suspended 20 games without pay for violating the NHL and NHL Players’ Association’s policy on performance-enhancing drugs last month, something he said was an inadvertent mistake.
He's back on the ice with the defending Stanley Cup champion Panthers now for workouts — but can't play until Game 3 of Florida's first-round playoff series.
“There’s so many ways you look at it," Ekblad said, when asked about what the suspension has been like. "Respect and integrity and character, family, name, my teammates, fans. Every single which way you look at it — the money that I lose on top of all that, not that I care about it in a sense. I'd give it all back to play and take it all back again. So, a lot of regret, but it is what it is and I have to find a way to move forward.”
Ekblad, in a statement through the NHLPA, said at the time the news that he had failed a random drug test shocked him. “Ultimately, I made a mistake by taking something to help me recover from recent injuries without first checking with proper medical and team personnel,” Ekblad said last month. “I have let my teammates, the Panthers organization and our great fans down. For that, I am truly sorry."
His absence has been part of a long list of Florida players missing from the lineup in recent weeks.
The Panthers lost Matthew Tkachuk in February and hope to have him back for Game 1 of the playoffs. Brad Marchand missed his first few weeks with Florida after being acquired from Boston. Aleksander Barkov has missed a few games down the stretch, defenseman Dmitry Kulikov and forward Sam Bennett might be back on Monday, and the Panthers are giving some other regulars a bit of rest as well.
Seeing Ekblad back on the ice, even just for practice, was enough to make Panthers coach Paul Maurice smile. Ekblad wasn't able to be around the team for weeks as part of the suspension; he can now do everything other than play games.
“It lets him go in and buy a lot of dinners for the guys, right? His credit card will take a beating and have a little bit of fun," Maurice said. "But he steps on the ice and it’s another 6-4 or 6-5 guy on your blue line and now all the guys in red look big. It adds a little something.”
Ekblad has been on the ice — just not with teammates, until now. He had some friends skate with him at times, like former Panthers defenseman Keith Yandle, but they couldn't be in the team facility when the Panthers were there.
“I was still able to skate and work out and draw up my own on-ice programs as best I could,” Ekblad said. "I’d watch the games, I’d see something (Gustav Forsling) would do and I’d try to mimic it and practice the next day, so it was a good lesson in being my own coach for a little bit. ... A lot of hours skating and working out alone, but it was good. It was fun to put myself to work in a way that I hadn’t before.”
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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
Tim Reynolds, The Associated Press
