Quote:
Originally Posted by madmike
Oxycodone abuse is pretty serious. If he was supposed to be in treatment and got nailed, I'm sure he'd be considered in breach.
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I'm not so sure. The NHL and NHLPA have a joint substance abuse program for a reason. The NHLPA is almost certainly going to have an easy time arguing that a substance abuse problem does not create a material breach, and line up guys who were in the program and came out as healthy, useful hockey players. We don't need to look far here in Calgary - Big Ern is living proof of this. As is Ferland, though he wouldn't have gone into the NHL's formal program.
I think I agree with TSN's legal guy. There has to be more we are not aware of, or the Kings are likely in trouble.
And as an added curiousity, the buy-out window is closed, so unless the grievance resolves quickly and the Kings get a bonus buy-out window due to a player-initiated arbitration win, LA's gamble could backfire in a big way.