MONTREAL – A new book by retired hockey player Georges Laraque suggests the NHL has a problem with performance-enhancing drugs.
Laraque says in the book that he knew a lot of players – both talented players and tough guys – who used steroids while he was on the ice.
He says players used different drugs to get stronger and to stop feeling the pain.
Laraque says the league began to tackle the problem in his final years in the league by setting clear rules against performance-enhancing drugs.
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But he says that hockey now needs to take action against human growth hormone that players have started using in recent years.
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The NHL and its players’ association have not yet responded to Laraque’s claims.
The former enforcer last played in the NHL in 2010 with the Montreal Canadiens.
His new book, published by Viking Canada, is called “The Story of the NHL’s Unlikeliest Tough Guy.”
Testing for performance enhancing substances was included in the collective bargaining agreement reached by the NHL and the NHL Players’ Association in 2005.
Under that agreement, every player in the league is subject to three “no-notice” tests from the start of training camp through the end of the regular season.
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