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Originally Posted by PepsiFree
Shawn Horcoff is "some rat"?
Comparing the NHL to the UFC isn't comparing apples to apples, where in the UFC there is a greater benefit to using PEDs and a higher value to using HGH as well.
Granted, there is a problem with the NHL's testing schedule, but it isn't some conspiracy to weed out a rat. The testing committee is bipartisan (in that they represent both the NHL and the NHLPA) and test every team twice a year. They can also test players randomly, including during the offseason, but the problem is that they can't test on game days and the player has two weeks to report for testing. Obviously, this creates a large sieve where everyone but the biggest abusers/least careful can slip through.
The NHL's drug policy might be lacklustre, but I wonder if that matters. Hockey is most similar to basketball in that being faster and stronger is beneficial, but without the actual high-level skills required to excel at the game, they don't make as big of a difference as in other sports. PEDs cannot turn an average player into a great one. In football, baseball, and the UFC, where strength and speed can make almost all the difference, they have an enormous impact.
Plus, it's not like many of the star players go off to the Olympics and play notably worse (in a situation with more stringent testing).
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Ha! You don't think players spend time in the gym? Or get sore? Or need Oxygen to their muscles? Or want more strength?
What sort of strength is involved in winning faceoffs? Board battles? Lifting sticks? Preventing stick lifts? Firing a wrister? Or a slapper? Or skating? Like everything in hockey requires athletic endurance and strength.
And not all PEDs are designed to make you a body builder. Some create more affinity of hemoglobin to oxygen, others remove acids faster. Some repair tissues faster.