MOSCOW -- A veteran forward who played for the Tampa Bay Lightning and Dallas Stars has been banned for breaking doping rules in his native Russia.
The Russian Anti-Doping Agency said in a statement Wednesday that Sergei Gusev received a six-month ban from the Russian Hockey Federation for an unspecified "breach of anti-doping rules."
Gusev's ban is backdated to March 23, the same month as he played in the first round of the Kontinental Hockey League playoffs for Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg.
The 40-year-old Gusev started his professional career in 1992. He spent four seasons in the NHL between 1997 and 2001, first in Dallas and then in Tampa Bay, playing 89 games and scoring four goals and 10 assists.
