FanHouse

With the release of the Mitchell Report, which is quite the gold mine, other leagues and their players are dealing with the aftermath as people ask, "Is your sport clean?"

When the topic of drugs comes up in hockey, it's usually either all about alcahol or Sudafed, and not steroids. People just don't tend to think of hockey players, who aren't the beefcakes NFL players are, as steroid monkeys.

Chris Chelios, the fitness freak he is, believes his league is as clean as white as snow.

"For some reason, hockey's never been involved, and I don't think it ever will be," the Detroit Red Wings defenseman said Thursday, just before Mitchell released his report on the use of performance-enhancing substances in Major League Baseball.

"It just hasn't been an issue with our sport," Chelios said. "No one's ever mentioned it. No one's ever approached me, and I've been around longer than anyone. I've been in gyms, I've been training, I've had a trainer for 14 years. It's never once occurred, so I've just never thought about it."

Now, it wouldn't be beyond Chelios to do a bit of ass-protecting for his fellow NHLers, given his involvement in the NHLPA regime change. Still, it's simply silly to discount the possibility that certain NHL players are users. I find it hard to believe that Bryan Berard and Sean Hill are the only users out there.When the average fan thinks of steroids, they think of massive muscle gain and super strength. Hockey players rely on speed, and bulking up is generally a disadvantage for hockey players.

From my own experience in the world of body-building/working out, and some research, I know that people use steroids for many other uses than just plain strength gain.

The four main benefits of steroid use:

To increase muscle size and strength.

To speed recovery time.

To increase energy levels during workouts.

To increase the oxidation rise of fat.

Items 2 and 3 on the list above would be of great importance to hockey players. Over the course of a season, an NHL player has to slog through 82 games, countless practices, and a handful of meaningless exhibition games before they even get to the Stanley Cup Playoffs marathon.

Now, I am not interesting in starting a Dick Pound-style witch hunt, nor do I think the NHL is polluted with a swath of drugged up athletes, but I do think that the sport isn't as clean as Gary Bettman would like us to think, and there are definitely a few players out there using steroids, HGH, or other illegal measures to enhance their performance and/or recovery.