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Could be heart attack brought on by steroids

So far, only one NHL player has ever been caught on the juice...Bryan Berard when he was with the Blue Jackets (my team is the unluckiest in NHL history: Berard's steroids, one playoff appearance in team history and the only game-caused fan death in NHL history.)

I think it would be very naive to assume that steroid use is really any less prevalent in hockey than in baseball or football. The NHL's testing regimen isn't really all that strict, largely because they haven't had the scandals the NFL and MLB have had.

The one player caught by the NHL's current testing was actually Sean Hill. Berard was actually one of two players who tested positive in international competition, the other being Jose Theodore.

The steroid issue has been low-profile in the NHL, but at least some of that is due to official denial at the top. Also, we tend to associate steroids only with jacked up upper bodies, while most NHL training regiments focus on the lower body because there isn't much advantage to being top-heavy for anyone other than a fighter. A guy with a relatively normal upper body but with legs like tree trunks might go unnoticed.

Given the toll an 82-game season takes on players bodies, the incentive to use is certainly there. Testing is fairly minimal in the NHL, and almost non-existent in the AHL where guys have an even bigger incentive to juice. I think we (and Bettman) are probably kidding ourselves if we say that steroid use is uncommon in the NHL just because only a couple players have been caught.

Obviously, it's too early to speculate as to whether steroids might have played a part in Boogaard's death and it's certainly indelicate to talk about the recently-deceased in that way, but it's not a possibility that should be discounted. If it's found that he was using, Boogaard will quickly become the NHL's Lyle Alzado.