LONDON, Ont. -- The last time Dick Pound spoke at the University of Western Ontario, he made international headlines by suggesting one-third of NHL players were using performance-enhancing drugs.
Five years later, the anti-doping crusader says the NHL and other pro leagues still aren't doing enough to catch cheaters.
"The NHL does not have a particularly robust (anti-drug) program," Pound said Monday during an speech at Western's law school. "They say there's no evidence (of players using steroids) but how can there be evidence if there's no testing? The anecdotal evidence from players and coaches is certainly there."
During a 2005 appearance at Western, Pound, who was president of the World Anti-Doping Agency at the time, created a stir in the hockey world when he said doping was a problem in the NHL with as many as a third of the league's 700 players taking banned substances.
NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said at the time that Pound's comments had "no basis in fact," while the head of the NHL Players' Association called the remarks "irresponsible."
In his speech Monday titled "When Is Sport No Longer Sport," the Montreal lawyer spoke of advances in the anti-drug war but was unimpressed with progress by professional leagues.
He couldn't hide his disappointment at comments made by the heads of some sports leagues, including NHL commissioner Gary Bettman who told a U.S. Congressional panel in 2008 that steroids would not help hockey players because "the resulting bulkiness attributable to steroid use simply is not the desired characteristic of skilled NHL players."
Under the current anti-doping program, NHL players are tested up to three times a season, but the policy has come under criticism because none of those tests can occur in the playoffs or during the summer.
"The head of the NBA told me he was aware they could be doing more but that he was too busy with players' problems off the court," said Pound. "The NFL likes to consider itself the gold standard in comparison to other leagues in anti-doping but then you hear players say a suspension of four games is too much, that it should be two games."
Pound said the CFL has made some headway in anti-doping but greater testing is needed. The CFL came late to the drug testing table but recently became the first North American league to announce it would test for human growth hormone.
Pound predicted that performance-enhancing substances, fixed games, point-shaving and other dishonest practices in sports could eventually drive away fans.
"When the result of a competition is compromised, people have always reacted the same way," he said. "They vote with their feet. They walk the other way."
One of Pound's concerns is that an undetectable performance-enhancing drug will one day be discovered.
"It's something that worries us all," Pound said in an interview following his speech. "I've always operated on the premise there is stuff out there we don't know about.
"They (the drug scientists) have become pretty refined. The cheaters are getting smarter. I guess all we can rely on is the ability to question a sudden and unpredictable spike in an athlete's performance."
Pound also touched on early views of steroids, that they weren't hurting anyone.
"Except for permanent acne, constant rage and testicles the size of jelly beans," he told his audience.
And death, said Pound.
"Too many young cyclists have died. They'll say 'he had a weak heart.' Well, he had a weak heart because of (drug) EPO."
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