The Morning According to Us: NHL Drug Testing and the Playoffs (With apologies to the NHLPA)

Drug testing stops when the playoffs commence.

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How clean is it?

[Ed.'s Note: This Morning According to Us piece was originally published on April 20. Shortly after, a representative from the NHLPA contacted espnthemag.com to point out a few errors in the reporting of the story. We now present an annotated version of the text—with corrections by the NHLPA's Jonathan Weatherdon—in hopes of clarifying any confusion we may have caused. (Sorry.)]

The NHL Playoffs aren't just a time for poorly-kept beards any more. Now you can take 'roids with impudence! Oh, the trouble you've caused, NHL Players Association.

The players association had a line written into its latest substance-abuse agreement with the league that banned testing for steroids and HGH during the playoffs. ["This is inaccurate -- Bill Daly from the NHL was quoted in the Globe and Mail to the contrary."] Nobody apparently knew about this clause until the Columbus Dispatch reported it yesterday. ["The program has been written about hundreds of time by media, and the NHLPA provides a simple overview of the program on nhlpa.com as well as the complete text of the CBA, which both clearly define when the testing occurs."] Players told the Dispatch they don't need "distractions" like testing during the playoffs. It's also apparently too much of a distraction to pee in a cup during the off-season; the policy states players can't be tested through September.

That's five months to wash out whatever you put in. "You would have to be an idiot to get caught in a system like that," a steroid expert tells the Dispatch. NHL players disagree, saying theirs is a noble sport of which only honorable men participate. Their word is all the enforcement they need. The World Anti-Doping Agency, though, thought recently that one-third of all players juiced. ["This accusation was made back in January 2006. There have been thousands of drug tests throughout the last four seasons, testing at the last three Olympics and numerous International hockey competitions."]

It's not hard to see why. Hockey has the physicality of football but the manic schedule of basketball; try to recover in time for tomorrow night's game with only an ice pack and a whirlpool treatment. And because of its ratings, the NHL needs every last limping star on the ice these days. Guess we're saying that we don't necessarily advocate steroid use. But we understand why no one will question any hockey player until the fall.

The NHL Playoffs aren't just a time for poorly-kept beards any more. Now you can take 'roids with impudence! Oh, the trouble you've caused, NHL Players Association.

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