Players Won’t Defend Goalie

On the same night that Mark McGwire said he no longer uses the controversial dietary supplement Androstenedione, Kevin Kerr and Hugo Belanger sat outside the locker room of the Anaheim Bullfrogs of the Roller Hockey International league to make passionate defenses of their sport and to furiously denounce the actions of one of their countrymen.

It hasn’t caused a big stir here, but last weekend the Canadian roller hockey team won the Pan American Games gold medal, beating the U.S. in the final. A couple of days later it was revealed that the Canadian goalie, Steve Vezina, who is a distant relation to the late Georges Vezina, who gave his name to a coveted trophy earned by the top NHL goalie every year, had tested positive for two substances banned by the international roller hockey governing body.

The Canadians were stripped of their title and, much worse, according to Kerr and Belanger, people around Canada and the rest of the world, wonder if that’s what roller hockey is all about. Much, much worse, Kerr and Belanger say, children around Canada heard Vezina’s defense--that he took banned substances so he could gain weight and improve his strength.

What Vezina tested positive for were the anabolic steroid Nandrolone and two banned stimulants that, Vezina says, he ingested when taking the cold medication Sudafed.

At about the same time that McGwire was saying he has chosen not to take Androstenedione, a supplement that became big news last year when McGwire hit 70 home runs and which has become controversial because it is banned by the NFL and because it may have potentially damaging health implications, Kerr and Belanger were standing outside the Bullfrogs’ locker room.

Kerr’s face was as red as summer strawberries. Belanger couldn’t stand still, switching from right foot to left foot.

These are not pampered, spoiled professional athletes. Each paid some of his own expenses to play for their country in the Pan Am Games in Winnipeg. Belanger had tears in his eyes as he described his own pride in receiving a gold medal and hearing the Canadian national anthem being played. “For me,” he said. “Do you know how special that is?”

While McGwire was telling baseball writers in St. Louis that a big reason he has forsaken andro is because he realized that children were heading out to buy andro because baseball’s best home run hitter did, Kerr was speaking about Vezina’s statement that, “I had a weight loss because our schedule is very demanding . . . I took the Nandrolone for my training for ice hockey. I’m a professional athlete and an ice hockey player first and you are allowed to take those substances.”

“That’s bull,” Kerr said. “That’s so bad,” Belanger said.

It was hard to keep track of who was saying what because Kerr and Belanger couldn’t help speaking at the same time.

“Kids read that stuff,” Kerr said. “Yeah, kids hear that and think it’s OK.”

Belanger took it upon himself Wednesday to call a Montreal sports talk radio station to defend himself, his other teammates and his sport. “You can’t believe the stuff our families are hearing, our friends. It’s terrible,” Belanger said.

“We all knew two months ago what the rules were,” Kerr said. “For [Vezina] to say he didn’t know what he took was banned, that’s just stupid. The message is so bad: ‘You’ve got to take this stuff to succeed as an athlete.’ It’s just stupid. It’s just not true.”

Belanger said he cried when he got the news. It never occurred to Kerr or Belanger to defend Vezina. It never occurred to Kerr or Belanger to think it was OK, that even if, as Vezina said, he bought the Nandrolone at a drugstore and only took the prescribed amounts, it was OK to gobble the pills to gain weight or strength.

“You want to do that stuff to yourself,” Belanger said, “fine. I don’t care. But [Vezina] hurt every one of his teammates, he hurt the sport and he hurt his country.”

The Pan Am Games were supposed to be roller hockey’s audition for Olympic inclusion. This can’t help, Kerr and Belanger said.

But much, much worse, in their minds, is that again there is evidence that athletes at the top levels can only achieve through some sort of artificial assistance. “Of course people will think that,” Belanger said. “That’s why I called the radio station. I wanted people to know that we don’t all do this stuff. There’s no one on our [Canadian] team who isn’t furious.”

Kerr said that at his press conference, Vezina had promised to call each of his Canadian teammates to apologize. “Haven’t heard a word,” Kerr said. “We’re not hard to find,” Belanger said. “But, probably, it’s better if he doesn’t call now. He doesn’t want to hear what I have to say.”

You find common sense sometimes where you least expect it. Two guys who have earned little in the way of fame or fortune through sports have, instead, gained something of much more importance.

Perspective.

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Diane Pucin can be reached at her e-mail address: diane.pucin@latimes.com