Washington Capitals forward Nicklas Backstrom represented his native Sweden in the 2014 Winter Olympics, but he wasn’t allowed to participate in the gold medal game against Canada because he tested positive for a banned substance. It was later revealed that the substance in question was pseudoephedrine, which was in his system because he was taking the allergy medication Zyrtec-D on the advice of a Swedish team doctor.
So while Backstrom wasn’t awarded a silver medal at the same time as the rest of his teammates, the IOC ruled in March that he would receive one. Fast forward five months and his time is almost at hand.
The current plan is to give him his medal during a pregame ceremony for a Swedish league game on Aug. 28, per Pro Hockey Magazine’s Linus Hugosson.
The contest will feature Brynas IF Gavle, which is the club Backstrom played for before making the transition to the NHL. He has spent the bulk of the offseason in Sweden and recently participated in a scrimmage with his old team.
(h/t CSN Washington)