Coach Gerard Gallant had the same reaction many Golden Knights fans did upon learning popular defenseman Nate Schmidt would serve a 20-game suspension to open the season.
“Surprise like anybody else,” Gallant said.
Gallant said he was out of the loop as Schmidt took his violation of the league’s performance-enhancing drug policy to an arbitrator before ultimately losing the case.
“I didn’t know anything about it,” Gallant said. “I read Nate’s comments. I read the team’s comments about it and I’m supporting Nate Schmidt 100 percent and we’re moving on.”
Players were unavailable Thursday as they went through off-ice testing, but will open practice Friday.