Entire Russian U18 roster replaced due to Meldonium scandal

[sureLoss]

vSlava Malamud ‏@SlavaMalamud
AllHockey.ru reports that the entire Russian U18 national hockey team may skip the Worlds due to positive Meldonium tests.

Slava Malamud ‏@SlavaMalamud
The U18 coach has been fired, the roster is confirmed to be radically changed. This is the first Meldonium scandal in Russian hockey.

Slava Malamud @SlavaMalamud
The ENTIRE Russian U18 roster is replaced with younger players one day before leaving for the Worlds. Biggest mass doping scandal in hockey.

Slava Malamud ‏@SlavaMalamud
U18 national coach has confirmed he is fired, his entire team is replaced with U17s. No further comments, but insiders say it's Meldonium.

Slava Malamud ‏@SlavaMalamud
For now, there is no info on whether CHL-based Russians are affected, so they may still join the team.

[RedHot25]

Bah, guess my thread on this in the sports forum can go...

http://forum.calgarypuck.com/showthread.php?t=154026

Crazy if true.

[Poe969]

In Soviet Russia, drugs take you!

[Trojan97]

Extremely sad for the kids. Likely a case of, "here take this" from team physicians, trainers. At that age, the players are going to trust whatever that whatever they are being given is safe.

[Flames Draft Watcher]

Brutal. It may really affect the draft as the U18s are one of the major tournaments for scouting euros. Was Rubstov on this team?

[Ashasx]

This is pretty unreal to me.

[CMPunk]

Weird the whole team was taking it, at least to me. But the World Anti-Doping Agency has found 123 positive samples of the drug in athletes since it hit the banned list January 1st. Of course most of those athletes are Russian...so maybe it is a pretty common thing there.

[JonDuke]

[Fighting Banana Slug]

As a noob, I don't know what Meldonium is. Steroid or masking agent?

[Barnes]

Had to look this one up. It was just recently banned by WADA starting Jan 1, 2016. Looking at the list of athletes who have been caught since January, it appears as though Russia just is putting it in the water supply.

[habernac]

A December 2015 study in the journal Drug Testing and Analysis argued that meldonium "demonstrates an increase in endurance performance of athletes, improved rehabilitation after exercise, protection against stress, and enhanced activations of central nervous system (CNS) functions"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meldonium

[JonDuke]

Originally Posted by Fighting Banana Slug

As a noob, I don't know what Meldonium is. Steroid or masking agent?

This might help

[Gaudfather]

Originally Posted by Barnes

Had to look this one up. It was just recently banned by WADA starting Jan 1, 2016. Looking at the list of athletes who have been caught since January, it appears as though Russia just is putting it in the water supply.

It was the drug that caused the downfall of Maria Sharapova.

[Itse]

I recommend reading the wiki page for Meldonium. I found it interesting. Mostly just shows how complicated the whole doping issue is.

It's a drug developed in Eastern Europe (Latvia specifically), and mostly used there. Some claim it's on the banned substance list because of political reasons, and it does seem that the evidence for it being performance enhancing is maybe kinda shaky. Supposedly it's purpose for athletes is protecting the heart and muscles from damage during high intensity workouts. Which would explain a lot of athletes taking it.

I obviously couldn't tell what the truth is. But it wouldn't shock me if there was some truth to those claims.

[Fighting Banana Slug]

Originally Posted by JonDuke

This might help

This post is hilarious.

[sureLoss]

Originally Posted by Flames Draft Watcher

Brutal. It may really affect the draft as the U18s are one of the major tournaments for scouting euros. Was Rubstov on this team?

Yup, these were the ranked players on the team. The number on the left was central scouting's midterm rank for Euro skaters

[FlamesAddiction]

Just to be clear, is it technically a legal drug to take, but just banned from international competitions as a performance enhancer?

[sureLoss]

double post

[sureLoss]

Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction

Just to be clear, is it technically a legal drug to take, but just banned from international competitions as a performance enhancer?

It is a legitimate heart medicine in Eastern Europe. It hasn't been cleared for use by the FDA or in Canada.

I am not sure if there is a legitimate medical reason for a team of teenagers to be using it other than benefiting from performance enhancements.

[Harry Lime]

Interesting to see what this scandal does for the draft position of some of the guys ranked in the 20s. Could be a potential steal or two there, if they are missing a major showcase and other players pass them.