Steroids in hockey?

[Eagles]

from tsn.ca

Quintal: More NHL players using drugs

TSN.ca Staff with AP, La Presse, RDS files

3/22/2005

The issue of drugs in professional hockey is grabbing some of the spotlight as of late, and one current NHLer says more players are using them than we think.

Veteran defenceman Stephane Quintal, who has played 17 NHL seasons with six different teams, told Montreal's La Presse Tuesday he believed about 40 per cent of the players he's encountered have used stimulants, while some of the stronger, tougher players have gone so far as taking anabolic steroids.

Quintal added that he has also used stimulants on a regular basis, going back to when he started playing professional hockey with the Maine Mariners of the American Hockey League. In an effort to stimulate his aggressiveness on the ice, the former Montreal Canadien would chase down tablets of Pseudoephedrine with multiple cups of coffee.


Related Info
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Hockey Insider

Quintal suffered a case of cardiac arrhythmia four years ago, and suspects it was the result of his regular drug use.

Quintal took part Monday in a book launch for Memoires d'Un Dur a Cuire (Memoires of an Enforcer), co-written by Montreal La Presse hockey writer Mathias Brunet on the revelations of Dave Morissette, a former player of professional hockey having admitted making use of anabolic steroids.

Quintal said at the book launch he'd like to see a tough testing program. He spent the season in Italy, where a doping offence carries a two-year suspension.

"There's no first offence or second offence, you're gone," said Quintal. "The NHL should come out with something like that - like the Olympics."

Dick Pound, the head of the World Anti-Doping Agency, thinks athletes still need to be educated against the perils of performance-enhancing drugs.

"A lot of people still do not understand the problem of doping," Pound said Tuesday during an international conference on sport and health in Tunisia. "Even at the Olympic Games, there are athletes who do not understand the problem."

Pound called for a mobilization at every level to combat doping. He expects governments to approve an international anti-doping convention under the aegis of UNESCO in Paris in October.

WADA medical director Alain Garnier said doping is a concern even at an early age.

"Unfortunately, doping of very young athletes is a reality which we have to be aware of and which can happen at any level (of sport)," he said."



I am a bit surprised by this. I guess I have always thought of hockey players as being clean even though there was no real reason to believe that they werent doing drugs. It seems to me that having too much muscle would make the player to bulky underneath his pads and precent certain movements. Hopefully this will just stay a small time thing and not explode like the steroid debate in MLB.

[Gibber]

by taking steroids you don't necessarily have to 'bulk up'
If you want to you can, but there are different kinds of steriods, and different ways to use them, I imagine, and there's no reason to think that pro hockey players are any different than pro baseball, football, and probably basketball players in that when so much $$ is out there for performance, they are tempted to cheat to gain an edge. It's unfortunate, and hopefully it will stop, but there's no reason to think that they are any less apt to cheat than any other pro athletes :( :mad:

[mattyt02]

I remember an article in SI a couple years ago about the effect of the drug in Sudafed and the effect it was having in pro hockey.

[fritz]

I'm running a testosterone radioimmunoassay today, does that count? :D

[Paul the Poet]

from tsn.ca

Quintal: More NHL players using drugs

TSN.ca Staff with AP, La Presse, RDS files

3/22/2005

The issue of drugs in professional hockey is grabbing some of the spotlight as of late, and one current NHLer says more players are using them than we think.

Veteran defenceman Stephane Quintal, who has played 17 NHL seasons with six different teams, told Montreal's La Presse Tuesday he believed about 40 per cent of the players he's encountered have used stimulants, while some of the stronger, tougher players have gone so far as taking anabolic steroids.

Quintal added that he has also used stimulants on a regular basis, going back to when he started playing professional hockey with the Maine Mariners of the American Hockey League. In an effort to stimulate his aggressiveness on the ice, the former Montreal Canadien would chase down tablets of Pseudoephedrine with multiple cups of coffee.


Related Info
Book chronicles abuse of stimulants
Bonvie: I've fought guys on steroids
Hockey Insider

Quintal suffered a case of cardiac arrhythmia four years ago, and suspects it was the result of his regular drug use.

Quintal took part Monday in a book launch for Memoires d'Un Dur a Cuire (Memoires of an Enforcer), co-written by Montreal La Presse hockey writer Mathias Brunet on the revelations of Dave Morissette, a former player of professional hockey having admitted making use of anabolic steroids.

Quintal said at the book launch he'd like to see a tough testing program. He spent the season in Italy, where a doping offence carries a two-year suspension.

"There's no first offence or second offence, you're gone," said Quintal. "The NHL should come out with something like that - like the Olympics."

Dick Pound, the head of the World Anti-Doping Agency, thinks athletes still need to be educated against the perils of performance-enhancing drugs.

"A lot of people still do not understand the problem of doping," Pound said Tuesday during an international conference on sport and health in Tunisia. "Even at the Olympic Games, there are athletes who do not understand the problem."

Pound called for a mobilization at every level to combat doping. He expects governments to approve an international anti-doping convention under the aegis of UNESCO in Paris in October.

WADA medical director Alain Garnier said doping is a concern even at an early age.

"Unfortunately, doping of very young athletes is a reality which we have to be aware of and which can happen at any level (of sport)," he said."



I am a bit surprised by this. I guess I have always thought of hockey players as being clean even though there was no real reason to believe that they werent doing drugs. It seems to me that having too much muscle would make the player to bulky underneath his pads and precent certain movements. Hopefully this will just stay a small time thing and not explode like the steroid debate in MLB.


Is this news? Hasn't Tie Domi been accused for years? And I'm sure everyone read the artciles about John Kordic. Didn't he basically die of a steroid overdose?

[KODZILLA]

I've been in and around hockey for a long time, played in some very good leagues with some very good players. I know a few guys who did a "summer cycle" to help out in the off season training. It's out there...just not as prevalent as other sports.

A question I've been wanting to ask, and something I don't really understand. Why does everyone call taking steroids cheating? Up until recently most if not all leagues didn't have a policy banning these substances, un-like the Olympics for example. If it's not in the rule book saying it's not allowed or is illegal, etc why is it cheating...I don't think it is. It's just a few people willing to go a little farther to gain that competitive advantage. Further to that point if someone in pro sports was on the juice 5-6 years ago, and only this year the league banned steroid use - are they still a cheater? I don't think so...as long as your playing by the current rules set in place by your specific league or sport. Just a few thoughts....

[ScottM]

I don't know if he did 'roids or not, but I recall that Tony Twist looked like a body builder at times during his career.

[Gibber]

Kod, are steroids legal?

[BC ZamboniGuy Cult]

A question I've been wanting to ask, and something I don't really understand. Why does everyone call taking steroids cheating? Up until recently most if not all leagues didn't have a policy banning these substances, like the Olympics for example.

Are you kidding me? Almost everything is against the Olympic rules. I remember reading about a US swimmer back in the late 80s- early 90s who had his gold medal taken from him because they found out he had been using a legally prescribed asthma medication that they thought was giving him an advantage.


If it's not in the rule book saying it's not allowed or is illegal, etc why is it cheating...I don't think it is. It's just a few people willing to go a little farther to gain that competitive advantage. Further to that point if someone in pro sports was on the juice 5-6 years ago, and only this year the league banned steroid use - are they still a cheater? I don't think so...as long as your playing by the current rules set in place by your specific league or sport. Just a few thoughts....

Even if certain leagues aren't on the ball when defining what's allowed and what isn't many of these steroids are illegal anyway- that should make a pretty clear guideline. If I'm not mistaken, anabolic steroids and such have been illegal for quite a long time. McGwire took a supplement that was legal, but when asked if he took any addition drugs, he began to cry and plead the fifth. Hmm.

[brianvf]

I didn't realize that Barry Bonds played hockey too... :D

[KODZILLA]

Kod, are steroids legal?

Certain types, yes!

[Murray]

A question I've been wanting to ask, and something I don't really understand. Why does everyone call taking steroids cheating?
Maybe because it's illegal?

[KODZILLA]

Are you kidding me? Almost everything is against the Olympic rules. I remember reading about a US swimmer back in the late 80s- early 90s who had his gold medal taken from him because they found out he had been using a legally prescribed asthma medication that they thought was giving him an advantage.

My post was supposed to read " un-like the Olympics for example". My bad on the typo....I was trying to compare leagues with no policies to the olympics who ban everything. It's been fixed. :)


[/QUOTE]Even if certain leagues aren't on the ball when defining what's allowed and what isn't many of these steroids are illegal anyway- that should make a pretty clear guideline. If I'm not mistaken, anabolic steroids and such have been illegal for quite a long time. McGwire took a supplement that was legal, but when asked if he took any addition drugs, he began to cry and plead the fifth. Hmm[/QUOTE]

I agree that most are types are illegal, but their are ones that are not. McGwire as you mentioned is good example. He took a supplement that was legal, and then used one or some that wasn't. If he hadn't taken any additional drugs other than the legal one - would we be having this conversation?

[Gibber]

Certain types, yes!
Well some, and the most prevalant are not. You don't think it's cheating doing something against the law that gives you an advantage over another player that, while still having the same opportunity to break the law and endanger his life, chooses not to?

[KODZILLA]

Maybe because it's illegal?

Being the "Original Dope Doctor" you should know that not all types are!!!

[KODZILLA]

Well some, and the most prevalant are not. You don't think it's cheating doing something against the law that gives you an advantage over another player that, while still having the same opportunity to break the law and endanger his life, chooses not to?

If it's against the law, and banned by leagues - cheating yes absolutely. I'm stating and arguing for the ones that these players have taken that are not illegal and are not banned by the league/sport they play in. Endanger his/her life is a personal choice these athletes make, has nothing to do with rules or the law.

Now everything is cheating...in the past no way. People played and worked the rules that were put in place in the past, some taking advantage of the opportunity and others not.

[Gibber]

What types of steroids aren't illegal, out of curiosity..
Andro, if I"m not mistaken isn't a steroid, and "Steroids" isn't all encompassing....

[BC ZamboniGuy Cult]

What types of steroids aren't illegal, out of curiosity..
Andro, if I"m not mistaken isn't a steroid, and "Steroids" isn't all encompassing....

Generally, if you have to meet someone in a dark alley to acquire them, they're illegal. :D

[TerrierByAssociation#2]

Andro, if I"m not mistaken isn't a steroid, and "Steroids" isn't all encompassing....

Andro's an anabolic/androgenic steroid precursor. Once it's metabolized, there's no difference between it and any other typical steroid.

[SpartyTAD]

Veteran defenceman Stephane Quintal, who has played 17 NHL seasons with six different teams, told Montreal's La Presse Tuesday he believed about 40 per cent of the players he's encountered have used stimulants.

Quintal added that he has also used stimulants on a regular basis, going back to when he started playing professional hockey with the Maine Mariners of the American Hockey League. In an effort to stimulate his aggressiveness on the ice, the former Montreal Canadien would chase down tablets of Pseudoephedrine with multiple cups of coffee.


Hmm, Caffeine is a performance enhancing drug?

Quintal said at the book launch he'd like to see a tough testing program. He spent the season in Italy, where a doping offence carries a two-year suspension.

Dick Pound, the head of the World Anti-Doping Agency, thinks athletes still need to be educated against the perils of performance-enhancing drugs.

And one that you should get busted for!


"A lot of people still do not understand the problem of doping," Pound said Tuesday during an international conference on sport and health in Tunisia. "Even at the Olympic Games, there are athletes who do not understand the problem."

Yeah, people like me. Coffee?


In all seriousness I think using steriods are wrong, and I have no idea, nor do I really care what Pseudoephedrine is. But I read the article making reference to "stimulants" and "doping," and couldn't stop thinking about coffee. Apparently Juan Valdez is public enemy #1 as far as hockey and the Olympics are concerned.