The use of performance enhancing drugs or any drugs for that matter have always been an issue in professional sports. Especially now with the Clemens/McNamee case dominating the sports pages, its hard to wonder what sport has the upper hand when it comes to staying squeaky clean.

Hockey has always had the rough image of being a sport that my possibly be too violent at times. Recently there has been some pondering in the industry if increasing the NHL’s drug testing policies might help feed the publics appetite for morality.

Currently, players in the NHL are subject to at least one and as many as three, “no notice” drug tests during the course of the season. As proof that there might not even be a drug problem in this sport, only one player, Sean Hill, now of Minnesota, has produced a positive test.

However, some people argue that as long as there is no out-of-season testing, the whole process lacks teeth and the results are considered meaningless. During the off season is when players do their most intensive training and that’s when a performance-enhancer or growth hormone would provide the most benefit.

Regardless of what people are wanting the fact is, that nobody really knows how pervasive steroid use is in the NHL, if at all. To date there is only a small handful of dabblers who have been nabbed. If the league’s desire is to be clean, the NHL would really have nothing to loose and so much to gain.

Drug Testing