Former Minnesota State goaltender Dryden McKay, who won the 2022 Hobey Baker Award as the top college hockey player in the country, has accepted a six-month ban for an anti-doping violation, according to the United States Anti-Doping Agency. McKay's ban began on April 14, which was the day that he officially accepted the punishment.
McKay recently played his final collegiate game on April 9 when Minnesota State lost 5-1 to Denver in the Frozen Four national title game.
"This experience has been a very unexpected and difficult matter for me and my family," McKay said in a statement. "I am remaining optimistic and looking forward to beginning my pro career in the fall."
According to ESPN's Greg Wyshynski, McKay was informed of the violation on Feb. 1, which stemmed from a urine sample that was collected on Jan. 23. That January sample netted a positive test for ostarine, which is a muscle growth drug that is on the USADA Protocol for Olympic and Paralympic Movement Testing, the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee National Anti-Doping Policy and the International Ice Hockey Federation Anti-Doping Regulations.
The amount that was found in McKay's sample was trillionths of a gram, which didn't have any impact on the star goaltender's performance. At the time of the drug test, McKay was being tested after being named as an alternate player for the 2022 United States men's Olympic hockey team for the 2022 Beijing Olympics.
McKay also stated that the presence of ostarine could've been from one of the supplements that he was actively taking. Since the positive test, McKay has sent those supplements to a lab to be tested.
The Minnesota State netminder was initially suspended for the positive drug test in January, but the ban was lifted on Feb. 3 by an arbitrator until a final decision could be made by the USADA. That allowed McKay to finish out the season in which he won 37 games and recorded 34 shutouts for the Mavericks.
McKay had already decided to turn pro following the 2021-22 collegiate season, but hadn't been drafted up to this point.
