It's been a long month for Aaron Ekblad. The worst is almost over.
The Florida Panthers defenseman spoke out for the first time Saturday since being suspended 20 games without pay for violating the NHL and NHL Players’ Association’s policy on performance-enhancing drugs last month, something he said was an inadvertent mistake.
He's back on the ice with the defending Stanley Cup champion Panthers now for workouts — but can't play until Game 3 of Florida's first-round playoff series.
“There’s so many ways you look at it," Ekblad said, when asked about what the suspension has been like. "Respect and integrity and character, family, name, my teammates, fans. Every single which way you look at it — the money that I lose on top of all that, not that I care about it in a sense. I'd give it all back to play and take it all back again. So, a lot of regret, but it is what it is and I have to find a way to move forward.”
Ekblad, in a statement through the NHLPA, said at the time the news that he had failed a random drug test shocked him. “Ultimately, I made a mistake by taking something to help me recover from recent injuries without first checking with proper medical and team personnel,” Ekblad said last month. “I have let my teammates, the Panthers organization and our great fans down. For that, I am truly sorry."
His absence has been part of a long list of Florida players missing from the lineup in recent weeks.
The Panthers lost Matthew Tkachuk in February and hope to have him back for Game 1 of the playoffs. Brad Marchand missed his first few weeks with Florida after being acquired from Boston. Aleksander Barkov has missed a few games down the stretch, defenseman Dmitry Kulikov and forward Sam Bennett might be back on Monday, and the Panthers are giving some other regulars a bit of rest as well.
Seeing Ekblad back on the ice, even just for practice, was enough to make Panthers coach Paul Maurice smile. Ekblad wasn't able to be around the team for weeks as part of the suspension; he can now do everything other than play games.
“It lets him go in and buy a lot of dinners for the guys, right? His credit card will take a beating and have a little bit of fun," Maurice said. "But he steps on the ice and it’s another 6-4 or 6-5 guy on your blue line and now all the guys in red look big. It adds a little something.”
Ekblad has been on the ice — just not with teammates, until now. He had some friends skate with him at times, like former Panthers defenseman Keith Yandle, but they couldn't be in the team facility when the Panthers were there.
“I was still able to skate and work out and draw up my own on-ice programs as best I could,” Ekblad said. "I’d watch the games, I’d see something (Gustav Forsling) would do and I’d try to mimic it and practice the next day, so it was a good lesson in being my own coach for a little bit. ... A lot of hours skating and working out alone, but it was good. It was fun to put myself to work in a way that I hadn’t before.”
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FILE - Florida Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad (5) looks on during the third period of an NHL hockey game against the Minnesota Wild Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024, in St. Paul, Minn. (AP Photo/Matt Krohn, File)
Florida Panthers head coach Paul Maurice, standing, watches during the first period of an NHL hockey game against the Detroit Red Wings, Sunday, April 6, 2025, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Jose Juarez)
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Investigators were questioning a family member of director-actor Rob Reiner and his wife Michele after they were found dead at their home in Los Angeles, according to a law enforcement official briefed on the investigation.
Investigators believe they suffered stab wounds, said the official, who could not publicly discuss details of the investigation and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
Los Angeles Police had not identified a suspect, Deputy Chief Alan Hamilton, the chief of detectives, said at a briefing on Sunday night.
“We are going to try to speak to every family member that we can to get to the facts of this investigation,” Hamilton said.
The Los Angeles Fire Department said it responded to a medical aid request shortly after 3:30 p.m. and found a 78-year-old man and 68-year-old woman dead inside. Reiner turned 78 in March.
Detectives with the Robbery Homicide Division were investigating an “apparent homicide” at Reiner’s home, said Capt. Mike Bland with the Los Angeles Police Department.
Los Angeles authorities have not confirmed the identities of the people found dead at the residence in the upscale Brentwood neighborhood on the city’s west side that’s home to many celebrities.
Reiner was long one of the most prolific directors in Hollywood, and his work included some of the most memorable movies of the 1980s and ’90s, including “This is Spinal Tap,” “A Few Good Men,” “When Harry Met Sally” and “The Princess Bride.”
His role as Meathead in Norman Lear's 1970s TV classic “All in the Family,” as a liberal foil to O’Connor’s Archie Bunker, catapulted him to fame and won him two Emmy Awards.
Relatives of Lear, the legendary producer who died in 2023, said the deaths left them bereft.
“Norman often referred to Rob as a son, and their close relationship was extraordinary, to us and the world,” said a Lear family statement. “Norman would have wanted to remind us that Rob and Michele spent every breath trying to make this country a better place, and they pursued that through their art, their activism, their philanthropy, and their love for family and friends.”
Messages to Reiner's representatives were not immediately returned Sunday night.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass called it a devastating loss for the city.
“Rob Reiner’s contributions reverberate throughout American culture and society, and he has improved countless lives through his creative work and advocacy fighting for social and economic justice,” Bass said in a statement. “An acclaimed actor, director, producer, writer, and engaged political activist, he always used his gifts in service of others.”
The son of comedy legend Carl Reiner, Rob Reiner was married to photographer Michele Singer Reiner since 1989. The two met while he was directing “When Harry Met Sally” and have three children together.
Reiner was previously married to actor-director Penny Marshall from 1971 to 1981. He adopted her daughter, Tracy Reiner. Carl Reiner died in 2020 at age 98 and Marshall died in 2018.
Killings are rare in the Brentwood neighborhood. The scene is about a mile from the home where O.J. Simpson’s wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman were killed in 1994.
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Balsamo reported from Washington. Associated Press Entertainment Writer Andrew Dalton in Los Angeles contributed.
LAPD Deputy Chief Alan Hamilton speaks near Rob Reiner's residence Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025, in the Brentwood section of Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)
FILE - Rob Reiner and Michele Reiner arrive on the red carpet at the State Department for the Kennedy Center Honors gala dinner, Dec. 2, 2023, in Washington. (AP Photo/Kevin Wolf, File)
FILE - Rob Reiner arrives at the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network's Respect Awards, in Beverly Hills, Calif., Friday, Oct. 8, 2010. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles, File)
A police officer blocks off a street near Rob Reiner's residence Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025, in the Brentwood section of Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)
FILE - Honoree Rob Reiner, second left, poses with his wife Michele, left, and children Nick, center, Romy, and Jake at the 41st Annual Chaplin Award Gala at Avery Fisher Hall, April 28, 2014, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)
