The Secret Everybody Knows, as Katie Strang of the Athletic calls it.

The NHL has a problem on their hands and if they don’t get it sorted out soon, more lives are going to be negatively affected by drug abuse. It’s believed the traction of the conversation picked up once the NHL got word of the Capitals’ Evgeni Kuznetsov’s positive test after the video of him with blow in his hotel room went public. Don’t get me wrong, it’s been talked about for years, but maybe this was finally the straw that broke the camel’s back.

There have been many who have tackled this touchy subject in the past, but I’m not sure anyone went into depth quite as much as Katie did with her story. Kudos for that.

I can tell you first hand I used to commute daily with an NHLPA major executive and we touched on coke use in the league and they mentioned the league and player’s union is looking at avenues to tackle the issue and get ahead of it, and he mentioned building an academy where players can go for numerous things such as learning about the signs of drug abuse, financial stability and most importantly figuring out life after hockey.

Look I’m not dumb, I know coke is a problem in the show, coke is a problem in society. it’s everywhere.

I remember hearing a few years back, someone on the Blackhawks missed time with a ‘wrist injury’ and it was just a cover-up because they needed to spend a month in rehab to get their life back on track.

Regardless of what may or may not have happened in the past, all I am hopeful for is a solution to the problem. It’s no joke, it ruins lives and will continue to ruin the lives of players in the NHL if they aren’t educated on the seriousness of these drugs.

Hopefully, the NHL and NHLPA can finally put something into place when they agree on the new CBA and have an answer to this massive problem, once and for all.