markierung Posted December 20, 2007 Share Posted December 20, 2007 Okay, so there are about what, 10 teams(?) in international competition...and 30 teams in the NHL. Of those teams in international competition there are also a lot of players that are NOT in the NHL. Enough oversees players that it's probably most of the "B" division and about 15% of the "A" division(likely none for Canada and the US and maybe 20% for Russia/Sweden/Finland/Czech/etc). Let's say that brings it down to about 6 teams worth of NHL players in the international competition. That's in the neighborhood of 1/6th, maybe it's 1/5th, anyways...Montreal is not the norm for how many players participate...there are teams that have only 1 or 2 guys that would go... These guys would take steroids in cycles...not simply "in the middle of the year when the pressure is intense". Why do so few athlete's test positive despite being virtual mutants? It's rarely because of their genetic disposition...more often then not it's due to performance enhancers...some legal, some not. The NHL testing policy is a joke. The Olympics and International is severe BUT there are always going to be ways around it and new versions of drugs that they don't know how to test for...and the major pro athlete's have the money to acquire the new badass drugs. Sorry, but I think it's very naive to think that the NHL is clean and the MLB isn't. There is FAR more reason for NHL players to be on something then MLB players...just by the nature of the sports. Same goes for the NFL...which at least has a better testing and enforcement policy then both the NHL and MLB. The NFL get's very few positive results but there is NO WAY that many of the athletic freaks in the NFL aren't taking something. There is not a single team in the NHL with less than 2 International competition worthy players. Look down the list Ottawa: Heatley, Spezza, Alfredsson, Gerber, Redden, Volchenkov, Robitaille, Fisher Toronto: Sundin, Antropov, Ponokarovski, Kaberle, Toskala, Tucker, Kubina Buffalo: Vanek, Afinogenov, Miller, Cambell, Roy, Boston: Bergeron, Sturm, Rask (World Junior), Chara, Murray Tampa: Lecavalier, St-Louis, Richards, Prospal, Boyle Washington: Overchkin, Nylander, Semin, Kolzig Florida: Yokinen, Hornton, Vokoun, Stumpel, Bouwmeester Carolina: Staal, Williams, Ward, Stillman, Brindamour Atlanta: Hossa, Kovalchuk, Kozlov, Lehtinon, Exelby New Jersey: Brodeur, Parise, Zubrus, Martin, Ranger: Jagr, Shanahan, Gomez, Drury, Lundqvist, Rozival, Marc Staal Islanders: Comrie, Di Pietro, Satan Philidelphia: Briere, Gange, Hartnal, Biron, Timonen, Smith Pittsburg: Crosby, Malkin, Fleury, Gonchar, Whitney I'm not even going to start with the Western Conference. Also, let's not exlcude the multitude of rookies coming into the league that just finished the World Junior tournaments. Also, the players i listed are all good enough to make the world championship teams. And so like i said, the only guys who really might take it are the crappier players. And you can't just take steroids in cycles. They don't leave the body fast enough and information would have leaked as the media would have probably looked ridiculously hard lately due to the baseball thing or some trainer somewhere would have got paid off Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeLassister Posted December 21, 2007 Share Posted December 21, 2007 This is a common misconception though...guys don't always take steroids to get bigger and stronger. Does Roger Clemens, Andy Petitte, Howie Clark, etc, etc all look like they are tanks? Of course not. There are many performance enhancing drugs that guys take to stay healthier, longer. Or to rehab faster from injury. Or to improve their endurance. And more. Everyone thinks that Performance Enhancing Drugs are all about becoming a 240 lb meathead...they aren't always about that. As for Sakic...he's been in the league since before steroids were rampant and so incredibly common amongst athletes. I don't think he's gotten better with age either...he's just maintained his ability for longer then most, he's always been scary good, even when the Nords were brutal...that type of longevity can also be an indicator of someone taking something. Which would be a real downer...I always liked Sakic...he's been a real class act so I'll assume he's clean. Wow, I never thought I'd see the day when someone would think these guys are on 'roids. These guys have ALWAYS been great players and class individuals. If more NHLers had the class and dignity of these two guys, we wouldn't be seeing all these dirty hits and suspensions. Guys, take a look at my original post and look at the VERY FIRST 2 words after this sentence... EDIT : Oh I even think i will give you a hint : it starts with No and finnish with Seriously... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jetsniper Posted December 21, 2007 Share Posted December 21, 2007 Don't worry Joe, I prepared a big long rant in Sakic's defence and then noticed the "Seriously". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zowpeb Posted December 23, 2007 Share Posted December 23, 2007 There is not a single team in the NHL with less than 2 International competition worthy players. Look down the list Ottawa: Heatley, Spezza, Alfredsson, Gerber, Redden, Volchenkov, Robitaille, Fisher Toronto: Sundin, Antropov, Ponokarovski, Kaberle, Toskala, Tucker, Kubina Buffalo: Vanek, Afinogenov, Miller, Cambell, Roy, Boston: Bergeron, Sturm, Rask (World Junior), Chara, Murray Tampa: Lecavalier, St-Louis, Richards, Prospal, Boyle Washington: Overchkin, Nylander, Semin, Kolzig Florida: Yokinen, Hornton, Vokoun, Stumpel, Bouwmeester Carolina: Staal, Williams, Ward, Stillman, Brindamour Atlanta: Hossa, Kovalchuk, Kozlov, Lehtinon, Exelby New Jersey: Brodeur, Parise, Zubrus, Martin, Ranger: Jagr, Shanahan, Gomez, Drury, Lundqvist, Rozival, Marc Staal Islanders: Comrie, Di Pietro, Satan Philidelphia: Briere, Gange, Hartnal, Biron, Timonen, Smith Pittsburg: Crosby, Malkin, Fleury, Gonchar, Whitney I'm not even going to start with the Western Conference. Also, let's not exlcude the multitude of rookies coming into the league that just finished the World Junior tournaments. Also, the players i listed are all good enough to make the world championship teams. And so like i said, the only guys who really might take it are the crappier players. And you can't just take steroids in cycles. They don't leave the body fast enough and information would have leaked as the media would have probably looked ridiculously hard lately due to the baseball thing or some trainer somewhere would have got paid off You can keep naming players...it would take an AVERAGE of 4-5 guys per team to make my 1/5 to 1/6 players in the league statement to be true. Your list is only proving my point...especially considering that not all of those players would actually make their international teams. I think you are incredibly naive to think that NHL players don't take some sort of PED...I believe it's fair to say that there are PED's that they aren't yet testing for in the NHL. You also assume the IIHF tests the same as the IOC for international competitions...which may not necessarily be true. Do you deny that pro athlete's, in many sports, have made careers out of cheating the testing in place? How long did Marion Jones get away with it in the Olympics? How long did many Olympic Athlete's "get away" with it? Do you honestly believe that they took it "once" and got caught? It's highly plausible that they were taking these PED's for years before it was revealed. Don't you think it would be easier for millionaire pro athletes to find a way(and afford) to cheat the testing? But you are firm in your believe that NHL players are clean? I'm all for innocent until proven guilty and I don't much like to name any guy in the NHL whom I might suspect BUT I 100% believe that there are numerous NHL players taking something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeLassister Posted December 23, 2007 Share Posted December 23, 2007 Don't worry Joe, I prepared a big long rant in Sakic's defence and then noticed the "Seriously". cool, because Joe Sakic and Niklas Lidstrom are, IMHO, the 2 best players who played after the Gretzky-Lemieux years. 2 of the most intelligents players in this game. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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