Former Flame Derek Smith banned for doping in KHL

[Pointman]

Figured this worth a thread in the off-season. Former Flames blueliner Smith, who is currently playing for KHL Medvescak was found guilty of using result seen illegal drugs and is banned by IIHF till September 2nd, 2018

https://www.washingtonpost.com/ampht...014_story.html

[Mister Yamoto]

I honestly thought the KHL didn't drug test. Go figure.

[FireGilbert]

Originally Posted by Mister Yamoto

I honestly thought the KHL didn't drug test. Go figure.

Me too. I assumed it was an anything goes league with team doctors prescribing steroids, vodka in the water bottles, and hookers and blow in the intermissions.

[Erick Estrada]

I suppose that is what happens in Russia when you don't slip a $100 bill with your pee cup.

[codynw]

"Former Flame Derek Smith"

Man those were dark days.

[calgaryblood]

Funny all the Russia bashing when it's very likely he did the same drugs in the NHL and wasn't busted.

[Poe969]

More likely that he didn't but other russians are doing the same in the KHL and not getting busted.

[calgaryblood]

Originally Posted by Poe969

More likely that he didn't but other russians are doing the same in the KHL and not getting busted.

Do players start taking drugs at the age of 36 for the first time? Highly unlikely. The NHL is not immune and has a drug problem just like any other league.

[Poe969]

I'm sure there is some use of drugs in the NHL but I'm willing to bet it runs rampant in the KHL. I do think a 36 year old guy who is fighting to stay in a league will try something like doping to keep his job if he knows its his last kick at the can.

[Geeoff]

Let's be honest, the NHL's drug testing policy is a joke. Someone gets caught every other year and it's always some rat the NHL is better without. In the UFC, they catch fighters every month.

[Robbob]

I remember from Dave King's book when he tells the story on how the trainer would frequently walk into the locker room and give injections and hand out pills. When King approached the players to ask what they got, the players had no clue. They then proceeded to eat their post game MacDonalds that had been sitting in a trunk of the car since the start of the third period.

Between stories like that, the state wide doping, the junior team stuff, I think this is probably just the tip of the iceberg, but done for political reasons to show that Russia is tough on performing enhancements.

[PepsiFree]

Originally Posted by Geeoff

Let's be honest, the NHL's drug testing policy is a joke. Someone gets caught every other year and it's always some rat the NHL is better without. In the UFC, they catch fighters every month.

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).

[theTrumanShow]

I think this team is now in the Austrian League and not the KHL. Might be why there are "standards"....lol

[Pointman]

Originally Posted by theTrumanShow

I think this team is now in the Austrian League and not the KHL. Might be why there are "standards"....lol

The team has moved from KHL to Austrian league this off season, but was playing in KHL three months ago. Two Russians were banned along with Smith, so I believe the test was related to KHL.

So says the article:

MOSCOW — Danis Zaripov, who played for Russia at the 2010 Olympics, is among three Kontinental Hockey League players banned for doping

...


The KHL also said that the IIHF had banned Canadian defenseman Derek Smith until September 2018 for a failed test

[badger89]

Steroids improve recovery time. They'd be VERY beneficial for hockey players.

Sent from my ONEPLUS A5000 using Tapatalk

[MarkGio]

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).

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.

[ZedMan]

Originally Posted by calgaryblood

Do players start taking drugs at the age of 36 for the first time? Highly unlikely. The NHL is not immune and has a drug problem just like any other league.

Why is it highly unlikely? As athletes age their recovery times increase. PEDs are great for expediting recovery (and therefore extending careers).

[TheScorpion]

Oh man, the days of top-4 defenseman Derek Smith... yikes.

[codynw]

Originally Posted by TheScorpion

Oh man, the days of top-4 defenseman Derek Smith... yikes.

Better than top pair Chris Butler.

[PepsiFree]

Originally Posted by MarkGio

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.

Um, sure I do. Who said players don't spend time in the gym? Read the post.

My point is that conventional PEDs don't offer as clear of an advantage in hockey as they do in baseball, football, and MMA. They're advantageous, but not in nearly the same way they would be in other some other sports. Hockey is a hugely mental game with a significant number of moving parts. Hockey IQ, shooting and pass accuracy, etc. It's entirely possible that the NHL doesn't really care about small enhancements in a league where scoring is down and most, if not all changes in speed and injuries can easily be linked to changes in rules and equipment.

The point is: are they using PEDs? Maybe. Does the NHL have a significant reason to care? Not really.