Drug use in NHL not an issue, says NHL Commissioner
Needles and pricks, skates and sticks? Not quite.
As he sat in front of a posse of steely-eyed U.S. congressmen at a hearing into drug use in professional sports Wednesday in Washington, Commissioner Gary Bettman didn't seem at all like a fish out of water.
And why would he be? Congress has much more pressing issues than the NHL when it comes to syringes and pills.
Bettman and NHLPA union boss Paul Kelly sat within arm's reach of the heads of basketball, baseball and football, a trio who have no doubt heard more than their fair share of tales concerning used needles scattered across the carpet of dressing room floors.
"The many years that NHL players have been tested in international competition, as well as recent testing under (the NHL's drug-testing) program, suggests that performance-enhancing drugs had never been part of the culture of the NHL and that instances of use by our players have been extremely rare," Bettman told Congress.
For what it's worth, I still don't think steroid inactivity among NHLers is as rare as Bettman wants to believe. In fact, it is almost assured that there is more than one NHL player taking drugs.
As I hinted at in a recent critique of the NHL's drug policy, let's call it the law of averages.
Then again, to imply the number is anything close to what Dick Pound suggests is both fallacious and irresponsible.
"The alleged benefits of steroid use - significant large muscle development - are not consistent with playing hockey at the highest level of the sport," Bettman said, "and the resulting bulkiness attributable to steroid use simply is not the desired characteristic of skilled NHL players."
Fact is, Bettman is right on. Unlike other sports, hockey players aren't required to jerk 400 pounds of steel, drive a baseball 400 feet or hold off a 300-pound linebacker to prove they are good at what they do. Strength is vital, but you don't have to be a walking tree to excel in the NHL.
That isn't to say that there isn't steroid use in the professional hockey. In recent years, a former players have come forward to proclaim that, yes, hockey players do use the needle, including former NHL tough guy Andrei Nazarov.
To suggest no one in the NHL is using the juice is a bit of a stretch. But if Congress is looking to solve a problem, they need look no further than major league baseball and the NFL.
The NHL should remain well under the radar.