| 27 May 2009
Consider the Capitals steroid story dying, as Brooks Laich and various Capitals and former Caps have come out against the recent steroid accusations made against the team.
Brooks Laich, center, ass-kicker extraordinaire and NHLPA representative for the Capitals, has been on the case, calling his teammates to make the situation known and ask the big question. Tarik El-Bashir was able to grab him for a few words.
Q: You said you've been calling each and every one of your teammates. What's been the reaction?
A: I just woke up to a phone call a little while ago [Laich is in Saskatchewan, which is two hours behind]. My phone rang about 8:30 a.m. So I'm trying to catch up on the situation. Guys are surprised. No one knows anything. I feel bad calling guys because you're not implying that someone has done something. But you have to make sure to clean the slate. The general answer has been, 'No, I haven't seen or heard of any of it,' and it would be impossible to get it by our locker room if there was because it's too tight, there's too much stuff going on. You would know if someone was doing it. But no one has seen a trace of it or heard a rumor of it. So we're not worried.
Q: Are you worried about what this might do to hockey's/the Caps' reputation?
A: We're not worried because I don't think any of our guys have done it or have tested positive for it. The last two seasons we've been tested three times each, which is the maximum allowed. Two, we're not worried because he wasn't specified whether it was 10 years ago. He said he's been selling for 10-plus years. He just threw a name out there and knew the media was going to run with it.
Another notable player to come out in all this is former Capital Steve Eminger. Eminger is now a member of the Florida Panthers, but is also a former member of the Tampa Bay Lightning, the team closest to the dealer's stomping grounds.
"It's pretty shocking," Eminger said. "I never once heard -- I'm not just talking about the Capitals, I'm talking about hockey in general -- a guy talk about steroids..."I've never seen it," he added. "But I don't think anyone would be doing it in the middle of the room like, 'Hey, how it going guys,' like they show in the movies. We get tested. I can't see anyone taking that risk of possibly getting caught. It's a pretty hard punishment -- the suspension and what it does to your reputation."
While there has been no word from Ovechkin, Semin or Green, Eric Fehr and Donald Brashear have publicly addressed the allegations. Brashear talks about it briefly on the Big O and Dukes Show which airs on WJFK 106.7, stating "All I can say is that we get tested two, three times a year and there's never been anybody that tested positive, so, I mean, I don't know if that's true or not."
There will likely be a few investigations, but from the looks of it the Capitals are probably in the clear. It's well known that criminals tend to tell tall-tales when they are arrested to gain notoriety or a few seconds of a fame. While it's certain that Richard Thomas, the accused dealer, has likely sold steroids to athletes, there's really no way to confirm any allegations he makes. It's also unlikely that he'll chirp about who he sold to because, after all, randomly accusing players will just add a few defamation of character suits to an already stiff sentence.
Be sure to check out The Nats Blog for news concerning the Nationals' part in all of this.
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