Dryden McKay, a goaltender for Minnesota State, was this year’s Hobey Baker Award recipient. The Hobey Baker Award is awarded each year to the top NCAA men’s ice hockey player. It is basically the Heisman Trophy for hockey. The Hobey Baker was first awarded in 1981, and since then, only two goaltenders have won the award before Dryden McKay this season. For this reason, Dryden being named the Hobey Baker Award winner this season was a huge deal in the hockey community. Being named the third goaltender recipient ever clearly showed that this kid was the real deal. Everyone, myself included, was so excited to see the bright future he would have in the National Hockey League. However, things quickly took a confusing turn when the United States Anti-Doping Agency announced he was under investigation.
After a private investigation, the USADA announced on Monday that McKay has accepted a six-month period of ineligibility for an anti-doping rule violation. McKay was announced as an alternate goalie for the United States men’s ice hockey Olympic team for this year’s winter Olympics, so as per International Olympic Committee rule, he was tested for performance enhancing drugs. The USADA performed this test and notified McKay in February that his urine samples contained Ostarine, a doping substance that is on the list of USADA’s banned substances. The hockey world was shocked, yet McKay insisted his innocence and said he never used Ostarine or any form of steroid, for that matter.
McKay immediately shipped all of the allowed supplements and vitamins he was taking to an independent lab to determine how he could have ingested the Ostarine. The lab discovered trace contamination of Ostarine in an all-natural vitamin D3 immune booster Dryden was encouraged to take to protect him from Covid-19 and its symptoms. According to a statement released by Dryden, the USADA told him the amount of Ostarine was measured at trillionths of a gram and equivalent to the size of a grain of sand in a swimming pool. Because the amount was determined to be so small that it had no performance enhancing benefit and was proven to be taken unknowingly, an independent sports arbitrator and the NCAA lifted Dryden’s suspension and allowed him to continue playing for the rest of the collegiate season.
Still, the USADA refused to let Dryden go without punishment. They stated that although Dryden did not knowingly take the Ostarine, he is still responsible for the substances he puts in his body. Personally, I do not agree with this decision. It is clear by the miniscule amount in his body that Dryden was not actively taking this drug to give him an advantage in his performance. I believe it is also unfair to punish him for the carless contamination practices of his vitamin company. According to his agent, McKay cooperated and accepted his six-month penalty to get the situation over with and be able to play for the start of the upcoming season. I understand not wanting to fight the sentence or drag it out, as he could potentially miss next season, but I still do not believe he deserves a suspension at all. It wasn’t his fault he was contaminated, and after thinking about this situation, it is quite scary to think of how many of our foods, vitamins, and protein supplements are contaminated with drugs or other substances that we aren’t even aware of.
