McKenna’s Musings: Be careful with supplement stores, athletes

Mike McKenna
Mike McKenna(MikeMcKenna56)
McKenna’s Musings: Be careful with supplement stores, athletes

If the Carolina Hurricanes can’t improve the power play, their season will end early.

The Hurricanes have connected at a rate of 21 percent over the course of the 2021-22 season. But don’t let the aggregate fool you: the power play has been in decline for a while now. Since Mar. 1, the Hurricanes’ power-play conversion rate is 25h in the NHL at 15.6 percent. And after Apr. 1, it’s even worse: just 4.8 percent.

It’s a big reason why Carolina is 5-5-0 in its last 10 games. The Hurricanes have been treading water recently and are now tied with the New York Rangers for first place in the Metropolitan division with 106 points.

I think the Hurricanes are easily one of the best 5-on-5 teams in the NHL. They’re so tight in the neutral zone and give opponents little room to operate. But that will only go so far in the Stanley Cup playoffs; special teams can make or break a series. Carolina’s power play has to be better..

I’m still skeptical of what the Florida Panthers will do in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

The Panthers are routinely crushing teams. They can almost score at will. And they’ve won 11 games in a row. But I still wonder if Florida will be able to clamp down defensively when it matters most.

There’s plenty to love about the Panthers. Jonathan Huberdeau is having the best year of his career and is a legitimate candidate to win the Hart trophy as the NHL’s most valuable player. Team captain Aleksander Barkov has 37 goals in 63 games. The Sams – Reinhart and Bennett – have been fantastic since arriving in South Florida. I could go on and on about individual players.

But here’s what concerns me: the Panthers have gotten into too many track meets for my liking. There’s a saying in hockey: “never criticize a win.” Well, I don’t agree with that. Every week or two, Florida has a game where they forget about defense and simply out-score their opponent. 

When you win a game 7-6 in overtime, there’s an element of guilt. Those games might be entertaining, but they’re a gut check walking back into the locker room. You know you were lucky to win, and you probably cut corners defensively in doing so.

The Panthers are the most electric team in the NHL. GM Bill Zito has done a fantastic job of assembling a well-balanced roster. Can they get it done in the Stanley Cup playoffs? I’m not sure. But it will be appointment viewing.

Whenever he chooses to retire, we should all hope that Marc-Andre Fleury stays involved with the NHL.

Fleury recently said that he’d like to play at least one more NHL season. He’s won three Stanley Cups and made the playoffs in 16 consecutive seasons. Astounding feats for the first overall pick of the 2003 NHL draft class.

While it’s a somber reminder that careers eventually end, I think it’s a good time to open up discussion on what Fleury could potentially do when he chooses to step away from playing.

‘Flower’ is one of the most genuine and engaging personalities in all of hockey, and I think the NHL would be remiss if they couldn’t find a way to keep him in the mix. Whether that’s on television, or through community outreach programs, I think Fleury would be a natural fit.

The game needs his effervescent personality. The reason why Fleury has such a large fanbase can be attributed to his smile just as much as his play on the ice. Kids want to be Marc-Andre because they see how much fun he’s having. The miraculous saves are just a bonus.

I’m very interested in what Fleury would like to do post-career – if anything. He’s made enough money to be able to choose his next adventure. Fleury can do whatever he pleases. But selfishly, I hope he stays connected to hockey. The NHL wouldn’t be the same without him.

Seattle has new part-owners in Macklemore and Marshawn Lynch, and the Kraken need them to stay engaged.

I’ve seen this before: celebrity owners show up in a public relations blitz, never to be heard from again until they quietly cash out a few years later. And no matter how fun the video was of Marshawn Lynch doing donuts while driving the Zamboni, I have to wonder how much presence he will have around the Kraken.

Lynch has a really diverse portfolio of holdings – in which the Kraken are probably of little importance beyond a title. I’d be surprised if he invested a large sum of money or if we see him much in the future beyond the odd public appearance.

But Macklemore interests me. I’m sure he wanted to be a part of something cool happening in his hometown of Seattle. Of the two new owners, I think the Poppin’ Tags rapper might be the one that ends up really getting involved.

Macklemore has massive reach within the Seattle community – he’s actively involved in charitable work. And now that he’s part-owner of the Kraken, it provides a really cool opportunity to bridge the gap between his interests and make a difference.

Expanding the NHL’s reach has long been a goal. Marshawn Lynch and Macklemore have the ablity to do it. Let’s hope they stick around long enough to make an impact.

Dryden McKay’s six-month doping ban is a reminder: supplement stores aren’t a safe refuge for athletes.

It’s unfortunate that 2022 Hobey Baker Memorial Award winner Dryden McKay will have to wait for his professional career to start. Named the top player in all of NCAA men’s hockey this season, McKay had traces of a banned substance in his system when he was tested earlier this year in advance of the Beijing Olympic Games.

While it was an honest mistake, it’s a great reminder that athletes have to be incredibly discerning about what enters their bodies. If a vitamin or supplement isn’t approved by NSF international, it’s a gamble.

It’s not hard to find out if something is approved. The blue NSF logo is prominently displayed on packaging when a vitamin or supplement passes testing requirements.

But if you walk into a local supplement store, the person working there might not even know what the NSF logo means. Their job is to sell. It’s not to protect a young athlete’s career. So finding approved supplements can take some work.

Over the course of my career, I had numerous people try to get me to buy products from supplement companies – many of which were rooted in multi-level marketing. Which to me is nothing but a pyramid scheme. But anyway.

I didn’t want the products in the first place. But my easy excuse is that the supplements lacked NSF certification. Sure enough, the seller would tell me about the extensive testing their company does to make sure the product is clean.

It didn’t matter to me. Unless I saw that NSF logo, I wasn’t touching it. Maybe I was overly cautious. But getting suspended for doping was not something I wanted to risk.

These suspensions don’t happen often. But when they do, they’re damaging.

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