Image via WikipediaI don’t know if the blog post needs a lot of narration but the article is worth a read and the revelations from this article are jaw dropping. One has to wonder if the NHL needs to do a review of it’s chemical dependency protocols.
Stu Hackel, Sports Illustrated --- “Today the biggest problem, which isn’t talked about…is pills. It’s painkillers,” Laperrière said.
Laperrière knows something about pain and medicating it. In addition to losing seven teeth and getting hit in the eye with pucks during the 2009-10 season, he’s had abdominal surgery, an operation to remove bone chips and scar tissue from his knee, and various hand, back, groin and neck ailments that forced him from the lineup at times during his career. “After my operations…I took two or three [pills] a day to ease the pain. But there are guys who take it just for the buzz,” he said Friday morning over CKAC Radio (audio), the French language all-sports station.
“[Painkillers] are appropriate for those who need them,” he said. “If I just had an operation, I may take my pills for two days, but the doctor gives me pills for twelve days. There are pills left over.”
And those leftover pills are apparently provided by some NHLers to their teammates.
Asked by host Michel Langevin how many players might be taking painkillers on a given team, whether or not they really need them, Laperrière responded, “The teams that I’ve played on, I would say four or five guys per team, and those are the ones I saw.”
Image via WikipediaI don’t know if the blog post needs a lot of narration but the article is worth a read and the revelations from this article are jaw dropping. One has to wonder if the NHL needs to do a review of it’s chemical dependency protocols. 
