Russia's Danis Zaripov, left, is challenged by Switzerland's Robin Grossmann during the Group B preliminary round match between Switzerland and Russia at the Ice Hockey World Championship in Minsk, Belarus in 2014.Darko Bandic/The Associated Press
Danis Zaripov, who played for Russia at the 2010 Olympics, is among three Kontinental Hockey League players banned for doping.
The league said Tuesday that Zaripov tested positive during the 2016-17 season for unnamed substances including a stimulant and a banned diuretic, or masking agent.
The KHL said Zaripov has been banned by the International Ice Hockey Federation until May 2019.
The 36-year-old left wing was long considered one of the best players outside the NHL, winning the IIHF world championship three times with the Russian national team. He also won the KHL's Gagarin Cup four times.
The IIHF didn't immediately respond to a request to explain why Zaripov did not receive the standard four-year ban as laid out in World Anti-Doping Agency rules, and if there were any mitigating factors.
The KHL also said that the IIHF had banned Canadian defenceman Derek Smith until September 2018 for a failed test, and Russian defenceman Andrei Konev until September. Banned stimulants were detected in both cases.