Friday, July 29, 2005

Updates on the Hockey CBA: Goodenow and Drug Testing

Perhaps not surprisingly, Bob Goodenow is no longer the head of the NHL players union. After losing an entire season, the players agreed to a deal that many feel is unfavorable. It is unclear how the internal negotiations proceeded, but Goodenow likely was unhappy being forced to agree to a salary cap.

In the States, some people trying to keep their jobs continued the Moral Crusade Against Performance-Enhancing Drugs. The Chairmen of the US House Government Reform Comm. sent a letter to the NHL and the NHLPA blasting the two sides for the weak drug testing regimen outlined in the new CBA.

    The NHL's new plan, which the league forwarded to Congress on Monday, fails to account for the myriad performance-enhancing drugs, doesn't provide for an independent administrator and fails to require enough testing, congressmen Tom Davis and Henry Waxman wrote yesterday in a letter to the league and its players' union.

    "All of these deficiencies could undermine public confidence that the NHL is free of performance-enhancing drugs," the congressmen wrote.

    ***

    While the U.S. bill calls for athletes to be tested at least five times a year, the NHL drug program calls for a maximum of two tests a year with no minimum, the lawmakers said.

    "First, a requirement of 'up to' two tests per year is no requirement at all," Davis and Waxman wrote. "Under such a policy, some players may not be tested at all. Second, the provision caps testing frequency at two per year. Thus, even if a player is tested, he can be certain that he will not be tested again after the second test."
(Westhead, "NHL drug tests attacked," Tor. Star, 07/28/05). Will Congress follow this up with legislation? This certainly would not be welcome news for the other professional sports leagues, which have all adopted more stringent policies in hopes of heading off a legislative attack. But Commissioner Bettman and hockey are not going to risk their new 600-page CBA, so Congress may be forced to put its money where its mouth is.

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