The NHL is going to push for a clampdown on anabolic steroids following the weekend death of John Kordic, league president Gil Stein said Monday.
Kordic, 27, died en route to a hospital after being subdued by police in his suburban Quebec City motel Saturday night. Steroids and about 40 unused syringes were found in the room. Needle marks were found on Kordic's arm during Sunday's autopsy."I don't know how widespread a problem steroids is in the NHL," Stein said in a telephone interview from Philadelphia. "From what I gather, it's not that widespread. But even if it's a minor problem, it should be dealt with."
Preliminary autopsy results indicate that Kordic, a tough-guy forward released in January by Quebec, died of heart failure and an acccumulation of fluid in his lungs.
That's consistent with steroid use, said Dr. Christiane Ayotte, the steroid expert at the Olympic doping-control laboratory in Montreal.
"With the use of anabolic steroids you put yourself in danger of cardiac failure," said Ayotte, adding the strain on the heart could lead directly to a fluid buildup in the lungs.
The risks would be even greater if the steroids were combined with alcohol and other illegal drugs, as police suspect in Kordic's case, she added.
Anabolic steroids, used to build muscles more quickly, can also cause personality changes - especially aggressiveness, said Ayotte.
Police were called in after motel employees complained of abusive behavior and loud disturbances in Kordic's room. They found an agitated Kordic pounding on the walls. It took nine officers to overpower him.
"There is something known as steroid rage," Ayotte said. "Anabolic steroids can make people very aggressive."
But Stein said the league's problem in invoking an outright ban on the drugs is that they are not illegal and can be obtained by prescription.
"If John Kordic had been stopped at the border and they found large amounts of illegally obtained steroids, that's one thing," he said. "But otherwise how would we in the league know there's a problem?"
The first step in any NHL crackdown is to form a policy and implement a testing program, said Stein.
"We can't deal with steroids unless we can test for them, like in the Olympics and amateur sports. And for that we need the approval of the players association."
But Bob Goodenow, executive director of the NHLPA, said Monday the players are against all forms of drug testing.
"We have serious problems with testing," Goodenow said in a telephone interview from his Toronto office. "In other sports it's often failed to meet its goals."
He said while Kordic's death was sad, he didn't see it paving the way for drug testing..
"There are other ways to approach this steroid thing. First and foremost is education, then we can take it from there," he said.
Stein said even if it were common knowledge that Kordic had been using steroids for years, the league was helpless to act.
The first opportunity to discuss a possible clampdown on steroids will come early this fall, when the newly appointed owners-players committee meets for the first time.
"I will see to it that we do discuss steroids," Stein said. "One personal tragedy is one too many."