I wonder what he was on?
Most steroids are in your system for 3 days to 3 weeks after you take them. I believe there are ways to test for them even longer, so it wouldn't make sense for an NHL player to take them mid season when they test. This would include most forms of testosterone, which I'm not sure I would take if I was a hockey player anyhow.
HGH on the other hand....totally different. It clears in 24 hours, and the test itself can be fooled by injecting supplemental compounds to mimic natural body levels. You can take it year round, and with 24 hours notice easily clear it from detection.
See here on NFL testing:
https://sports.vice.com/en_us/articl...hgh-test-is-bs
If he was on HGH (would make sense from an injury recovery standpoint) I might actually believe his defense that he didn't know it was banned, because it's so ridiculously easy to get out of your system before you get tested. That or he's just really, really, really dumb......