Nhl Claims Sudafed Use Isn’t A Problem

The use of cold tablets as stimulants is not a problem in the NHL, claims the league and the players’ association.

“Sudafeds have no bearing on what happens in a game,” Jeremy Roenick of the Phoenix Coyotes said Thursday. “I think it’s a player’s choice. If a guy doesn’t feel very good and he wants to have a Sudafed, that is his prerogative. Thousands of people probably do it every day.”

An article in the current issue of Sports Illustrated says, “Two NHL trainers estimate that before a game 20 percent of the league’s players routinely take over-the-counter medications that contain pseudoephedrine, not to combat the sniffles as the manufacturers intended, but to feel a little buzz.”

Bob Goodenow, executive director of the NHL Players’ Association, said he’s unaware of any abuse problem. Results of tests on players “suggested drastically lower numbers than what appeared in the story.”

Sudafed contains pseudoephedrine, which is on the International Olympic Committee’s list of banned substances. Players chosen for the Olympics have been subject to testing. A positive test in the Olympics medal round eliminates all results for that team.

Yzerman out two games

Detroit Red Wings captain Steve Yzerman has a sprained medial collateral ligament and a charley horse on his left leg, hospital tests revealed.

Team officials said Yzerman is expected to miss two games this weekend but should be back on the ice by next Friday.