Vegas' Zykov responds to 20 game NHL suspension

A follow up to today's bombshell in the NHL.

HockeyFeed
HockeyFeed
Published 4 years ago
Vegas' Zykov responds to 20 game NHL suspension
Zuma Press

This just in, according to NHL insider Chris Johnston of Sportsnet, Valentin Zykov of the Vegas Golden Knights has been suspended 20 games for violating the NHL’s Performance Enhancing Substances Program.




The Golden Knights have confirmed the news and have issued the following statement regarding Vykov's suspension.

VEGAS (October 17, 2019) - The Vegas Golden Knights issued the following statement, today, October 17, regarding the suspension of Valentin Zykov:
"We were notified by the NHL and NHLPA that Valentin has violated the terms of the NHL/NHLPA Performance Enhancing Substances Program. We monitor the nutrition, supplement intake, and overall diet of our athletes on a continual basis throughout our entire season. Valentin knowingly used a banned substance without the consent, recommendation or knowledge of our team. We support the NHL/NHLPA Performance Enhancing Substances Program and respect the decision here."
The NHL announced today, October 17, that Zykov has been suspended for 20 games, without pay, for violating the terms of the NHL/NHLPA Performance Enhancing Substances Program.


Interestingly enough, the team claims that Zykov "knowingly used a banned substance without the consent, recommendation or knowledge of our team", which of course is much different than the situation they faced with Nate Schmidt last offseason.

You may recall that Schmidt was also suspended 20 games after testing positive for a banned substance, but the organization stood by Schmidt's account that he had never taken anything willingly or knowingly. As evidenced by their statement, this is not the case with Zykov. 

The 24 year old Zykov has just two assists in seven games with Vegas this season and has failed to play more than 13 games in a single NHL season and previously for the Carolina Hurricanes and Edmonton Oilers' organizations.

UPDATE: Zykov has now come out in argument that he "knowingly" took a banned substance. 

Check it out:





Suffice to to say, there HAS to be more to this story than meets the eye.