I can imagine the mediocre joke in Jay Leno’s monologue tonight, probably something recycled from the Bertuzzi-Moore incident. Then will come all the editorials about hockey’s tough image, how these guys were hooked on painkillers, blah blah blah.
When the second guy died, Rypien, the useless commissioner went with the boilerplate statement: take a more serious review over the league’s substance-abused policy. I doubt much will come of it.
The ugly reality isn’t caused by the sport per se, drug problems exist in all professions, especially athletics since these people get banged up for many years. Even in “wimpy” sports like golf and tennis. Besides, drinking, pills and other crap have been happening for decades. The NHL just got a “winning” lottery ticket in the off-season.
It still won’t deter the critics and Damien Cox from lecturing.