Steroids?

[slipslap 0]

Me and my mom were talking and we were wondering if any pro hockey players take steroids? thanks in advance

[Hidious 0]

My intentions are not to piss anyone off, but i've always tought hockey was a lot cleaner than football and baseball. I may be completly wrong.

Nowadays, it has became pretty hard to take steroids because of all the controls, etc. (Again i may be completly wrong.) but i don't think older guys were using it anyway...

It's a known thing that fighters were boosted with a lot of things but i don't think other "normal" players were taking some of this. Dave Morisette (former NHL fighter) has published a shocking book about what he went trought to make it to the big league. (lots of drugs involved)

[DamnLocust 0]

Both Bryan Berard and Jose Theodore were banned from international play for a period of time due to failing drug testing for the olympics. They passed testing for the NHL however (tests given at different times, different standards, etc.).

Dick Pound greatly criticized the NHL's drug testing policies I think last year, and claimed that a large percentage of NHLers were on the sauce, however he had nothing to back it up.

[Eazy_b97 1]

The "sauce" pound was referring too was excess Caffein and cold medicines.

[Jason Harris 31]

I think one NHL player I met summed it up best. When the Grand Jury testimony leaked out about Barry Bonds, a couple of us were discussing it in the locker room and agreed that taking steroids is cheating. His response was, "Why? It's his body. The other players can do that if they want."

Do I think there are athletes in all sports who take extra ingredients which are banned and/or illegal? Absolutely.

[Hidious 0]

Sure, but here's where my opinion seems to be akward to a lot of people...

If you play football, a stronger, faster (drugged) player will be 2x better. Because it's all about strength and power... But in Hockey, even if you are the fastest and strongest man in the league, you just can't become a superstar that easily. Sure, it will help your game but like a lot of people say, (i think the number is exagerated) 90% of hockey is mental.

Oh and you just can't include tye Theodore incident in that. It was proven that the failed tests were due to it's hair-growing pills and, anyway, i just can't see how steroids could help a goalie.

[Patrick67 1]

Biggest Joke was The Columbus D-man (was that Berard?) that failed USA hockeys Olympic team test, steroids, and was banned from the Olympics (wouldn't have made the team anyway they said) but allowered to play in the NHL without any suspension because the test wasn't conducted by the NHL...

[Trooper 8]

Sure, but here's where my opinion seems to be akward to a lot of people...

If you play football, a stronger, faster (drugged) player will be 2x better. Because it's all about strength and power... But in Hockey, even if you are the fastest and strongest man in the league, you just can't become a superstar that easily. Sure, it will help your game but like a lot of people say, (i think the number is exagerated) 90% of hockey is mental.

Oh and you just can't include tye Theodore incident in that. It was proven that the failed tests were due to it's hair-growing pills and, anyway, i just can't see how steroids could help a goalie.

There is a lot of technique in football as well as mental components of the game. There are a ton of guys stronger than offensive linemen in the world that can't play football. Baseball isn't a strength sport but getting stronger helps hitters.

Steroids and other substances would be a huge benefit in hockey because of a) the strength and speed required to play the game and B) because of the overly long season that tends to break down a player's body due to stretches where the players have insufficient recovery time.

While steroids may not have much direct impact on a goalie, although there would be some, again it would help them train harder and longer and recover from that training faster.

[hockechamp14 0]

Biggest Joke was The Columbus D-man (was that Berard?) that failed USA hockeys Olympic team test, steroids, and was banned from the Olympics (wouldn't have made the team anyway they said) but allowered to play in the NHL without any suspension because the test wasn't conducted by the NHL...

The bigger joke is that most NBA players think they're too good to play internationally, and that I don't think baseball has testing for international tournaments (since it is no longer part of the Olympics, which is bullshit).

If Berard thought he was at risk for something, he probably would have dropped out of competition for a roster slot when he heard testing was conducted.

[RadioGaGa 162]

Both Bryan Berard and Jose Theodore were banned from international play for a period of time due to failing drug testing for the olympics. They passed testing for the NHL however (tests given at different times, different standards, etc.).

Dick Pound greatly criticized the NHL's drug testing policies I think last year, and claimed that a large percentage of NHLers were on the sauce, however he had nothing to back it up.

The substance Theodore tested pistive for was an ingedient in the hair growth tonic he is taking. I guess he figures that he better make sure that head of hair stays intact, so his modeling career won't be affected once his goalie career ends (which the way he's playing the last few years could happen soon).

[Eazy_b97 1]

My understanding was that Berard's "roids" were due to his eye injury.

[bainsstatic 0]

Sure, but here's where my opinion seems to be akward to a lot of people...

If you play football, a stronger, faster (drugged) player will be 2x better. Because it's all about strength and power... But in Hockey, even if you are the fastest and strongest man in the league, you just can't become a superstar that easily. Sure, it will help your game but like a lot of people say, (i think the number is exagerated) 90% of hockey is mental.

Oh and you just can't include tye Theodore incident in that. It was proven that the failed tests were due to it's hair-growing pills and, anyway, i just can't see how steroids could help a goalie.

It's well known that finasteride (hair growth drug) is a testosterone booster. In fact, many opt not to take it because it has such adverse side effects. I'm sure Theodore was well aware of what he was doing as a pro-athlete.

[Thockey17 1]

The bigger joke is that most NBA players think they're too good to play internationally

For the most part, the upper tier of NBA players would dominate the international leagues if they decided to go over there. Look how many players who wouldnt make NBA rosters come out of college(s) in the US and become stars over across the pond. Guys like Kobe, Lebron, Wade, Melo, etc. would make a joke of those leagues.

Im 100% sure that NHL players have used steroids and the like both legal and illegal. Someone somewhere is always looking for an edge over the competition.

[lee92 2]

personally, i doubt many NHL players use steroids. there may be the odd one, but there can't be that many. the benefits of steroids just don't line up with the way the sport is played. the only people that would benefit would be fighters. football is more strength/mass based than hockey, so i can see a lot of usage there. but strength and mass just aren't as big of a part of hockey. you don't have 300lb players running into each other, trying to hold and block the other one off, as in football.

[Monty22 832]

Without a doubt there are NHLers on the juice. I'm hopeful it is a very small minority, but I'm not naive enough to believe the entire league is clean.

[Chadd 916]

The bigger joke is that most NBA players think they're too good to play internationally

For the most part, the upper tier of NBA players would dominate the international leagues if they decided to go over there. Look how many players who wouldnt make NBA rosters come out of college(s) in the US and become stars over across the pond. Guys like Kobe, Lebron, Wade, Melo, etc. would make a joke of those leagues.

Im 100% sure that NHL players have used steroids and the like both legal and illegal. Someone somewhere is always looking for an edge over the competition.

Most NBA stars can't or won't play a team game and that's one of the main reasons why we lose. There is much more ball movement, something NBA players haven't done in well over a decade.

As for the original topic, most of the guys on it are fringe players or tough guys who need the help to stay in the league.

[Jason Harris 31]

personally, i doubt many NHL players use steroids. there may be the odd one, but there can't be that many. the benefits of steroids just don't line up with the way the sport is played. the only people that would benefit would be fighters. football is more strength/mass based than hockey, so i can see a lot of usage there. but strength and mass just aren't as big of a part of hockey. you don't have 300lb players running into each other, trying to hold and block the other one off, as in football.

All things being equal, a stronger athlete is a faster athlete. Where things become unequal is the athlete will also add mass, which would slow him. The question is whether the added strength overcomes the added mass. The answer is likely 'yes,' since world class sprinters occasionally test positive for steroids.

[Cavs019 708]

Not all steroids increase muscle mass. If anything, I could see professionals using "shredders" in order to cut their body fat percentage thus increasing speed and endurance, as opposed to pure mass building steroids.

[djinferno 2]

no sport is clean, hockey players do some too, some have admited to it....

[MDE3 0]

It's funny how we look at training today vs the "old school", where strength training as often as not came from the off season work the players had to do. Either slugging it out on a farm, in the mines, or logging work, and many of these players ended up with more strength and endurance than current methods can produce (Howe, Hull, Armstrong, Makita, etc etc.)...in spite of the drugs and training science.

The reps and efforts made when working in the above noted industries required many more hours per day of heavy work, that you could not get a player from today's game to equal in a training room. Throwing hundreds of 75 - 90 lb hay bales a day onto a wagon, or tossing 200 lb. pulp logs up onto the truck, and then splitting the firewood as part of the chores when you got home from work.

The physical labor so many of these players went through in the off season will never be duplicated anymore, because almost no NHL players actually have to work in the off season..even at the lowest salary levels. Those who toil through the minors, no doubt need to be gainfully employed in the off season, but I would suspect not many of them work in the old time industries noted above.

I only mention this because...it could be done without all the cheating, but the mental toughness is not there in most players..because they don't have to do it. Think of Bobby Hull, at age 57 during the All-Star skills competion, when he came out as a guest and fired a slap shot at 117 mph..in street shoes. and then when they figured it might be a misread, they had him repeat it...unfortunately they didn't get a velocity on the second shot because it missed the net...and BROKE the GLASS!....(according to his biography at Hickock.com, his fastest recorded shot was 118.3 mph) His wrist shot was recorded at 105 mph....with no carbon graphite sticks....

Gordie Howe was also famous for his strength, as were so many of the French Canadian players with tremendous wrist/snap shots, like Lemaire, Lafleur, and Cornouyer..it could still be done today...but most people just wont go through that kind of effort if they do not have to. It's easier to "cheat".

[DarkStar50 679]

I think one NHL player I met summed it up best. When the Grand Jury testimony leaked out about Barry Bonds, a couple of us were discussing it in the locker room and agreed that taking steroids is cheating. His response was, "Why? It's his body. The other players can do that if they want."

Do I think there are athletes in all sports who take extra ingredients which are banned and/or illegal? Absolutely.

The problem with your player's logic is that steroids are an illegal substance as defined by our judicial system. Unless by doctor's prescription, taking steroids is breaking the law. Yes, it is your body but our society has laws to govern what we do with our bodies. Taking steroids is illegal. If found in your possession you will be arrested.

Fighters and fringe players would not be the only ones to take the juice. The player who is 5'9", 165 lbs. will take the juice to go to 5'9" 190 lbs of muscle. There are plenty of players from the late 80s and early 90s who moved up through Canadian Junior leagues to professional using the juice to get bigger and stronger. Steroids have been around locker rooms before Bonds and McGuire started hitting homers. I read an article that players are tested twice a year in a pro sport. I cannot remember which sport. Once they take the second test, they start a cycle since they know they will not be tested again during the season.

Whatever happened to the good old days when the drug of choice among all pro athletes was alcohol?

[Trooper 8]

It's funny how we look at training today vs the "old school", where strength training as often as not came from the off season work the players had to do. Either slugging it out on a farm, in the mines, or logging work, and many of these players ended up with more strength and endurance than current methods can produce (Howe, Hull, Armstrong, Makita, etc etc.)...in spite of the drugs and training science.

The reps and efforts made when working in the above noted industries required many more hours per day of heavy work, that you could not get a player from today's game to equal in a training room. Throwing hundreds of 75 - 90 lb hay bales a day onto a wagon, or tossing 200 lb. pulp logs up onto the truck, and then splitting the firewood as part of the chores when you got home from work.

No offense, but that is nonsense. Today's players are bigger and stronger than in the past, there is absolutely no question about it. Today's training methods produce far superior athletes than physical labor. No doubt working on a farm is hard, but did every NHL athlete in the past do hard labor over the summer?

[Jason Harris 31]

Taking steroids is illegal. If found in your possession you will be arrested.

Did you see that the Australian government is claiming Sylvester Stallone had 48 vials of steroids in his bags? You can find some clips of it here. Bear in mind, this is a 60-year-old man.

[MDE3 0]

It's funny how we look at training today vs the "old school", where strength training as often as not came from the off season work the players had to do. Either slugging it out on a farm, in the mines, or logging work, and many of these players ended up with more strength and endurance than current methods can produce (Howe, Hull, Armstrong, Makita, etc etc.)...in spite of the drugs and training science.

The reps and efforts made when working in the above noted industries required many more hours per day of heavy work, that you could not get a player from today's game to equal in a training room. Throwing hundreds of 75 - 90 lb hay bales a day onto a wagon, or tossing 200 lb. pulp logs up onto the truck, and then splitting the firewood as part of the chores when you got home from work.

No offense, but that is nonsense. Today's players are bigger and stronger than in the past, there is absolutely no question about it. Today's training methods produce far superior athletes than physical labor. No doubt working on a farm is hard, but did every NHL athlete in the past do hard labor over the summer?

Nonsense...lol, In those days pretty much all of them did....and nobody has skated faster or yet had a harder shot than Hull, with all the advances in technology both in training and equipment...

They didn't make enough in the season to pay for the whole year, so they all had to work in the off season...the majority did some kind of physical labor on farms construction, mining, fishing, or in similar hard working industries...including even Mark Messier in his minor league years.

Remember in those days hockey was a "poor man's" sport....and the trade off for many of those players was a lack of education..they would typically leave school to work in Dad's business, and keep playing hockey..it was their "way out" much as basketball has become for kids in in the inner city ghettos.

The players may be bigger and have the benefit of better training on the technical skating side, but stronger...I would be surprised.

I am almost 60 years old, so I speak from first hand knowledge about this...I grew up playing with lot's of guys who played NHL hockey at least for a few games...I grew up in North Central Ontario...and I am not kidding about the strength thing at all.

A non hockey related example....1973...I had my car skid off the road on ice, where the car ended up with the front wheels over the ditch and the body of the car which was perpendicular to the road, sat on the frame at the edge of the ditch. A logging truck (pulp truck)stopped to help. The owner operator gets out, and goes down into the ditch in front of the car...the car is sitting on solid wet ice, so there is 1% traction maybe. He simply lifted the front end of the car..about 15 "..and set it forward onto the road..did not "push" the car, but lifted it...around 1200 lbs dead lift...and then moved it forward about 3'..while standing waist deep in wet snow and ice. The guy was maybe 160 lbs, 5'6"...

He also played in a local men's league..AAA near Lachute Quebec...

I only mention this because until you have seen what I am talking about...you would think this "old school" stuff is just BS...it was not...I worked in the logging, fishing and mining/construction industries for many years...and trust me when I say..modern training techinques as they are used, will be hard pressed to develop strength like you saw in these hard working guys....along with endurance. Remember,,they did this 12 hours a day in many cases....

No question on average today's players are bigger,,,,and more are faster..due to techniques and training, but at the very top of the pyramid...the "best" of today are not stronger or faster than the "best" of the old school days. Read the biographies of those guys..and see how they lived.

[Trooper 8]

Until you can produce data to support your argument, one story about a guy lifting the front end of a car where there was no traction doesn't prove anything.

Because Hull had the fastest slapshot doesn't mean ALL players back then were stronger than players now, it means he had an awesome slapshot.

The argument is moot because there is no way to compare because there is no data.