Team USA Player Tests Positive for Illicit Drug

Team USA center Corey Millen tested positive for a banned drug after a World Hockey Championship game this week, an American hockey official said today, but international federation officials did not confirm it.

Millen, 24, one of the best players on an American team that lost its first four games in the preliminary round of the tournament, could be suspended 18 months if the allegations are true.

Bob Johnson, executive director of the Amateur Hockey Assn. of the U.S., said Millen’s urine sample showed traces of an illegal drug, but he declined to say which substance the former University of Minnesota player allegedly had taken. Swedish television said the test showed traces of illegal hormones.

The International Ice Hockey Federation said “at a recent dope test, one sample showed positive traces. This can only be confirmed by a second test, a B test, which is now being processed.”

Millen, who has two goals and one assist for Team USA in the championships, claims he is innocent and has not taken any drugs.