MONTREAL -- Montreal goalie Jose Theodore has tested positive for a banned substance in pre-Olympic screening because he was using a hair-growth drug that can be used as a masking agent, the Canadiens' team doctor said Thursday.

The test wasn't part of the NHL's new testing program, so he will not be subject to league discipline.

 

Theodore was not picked for Canada's Olympic team but was on the preliminary 81-player eligibility list. No punishment was handed down because he is appealing the result to an arbitrator.

 

Canadiens team doctor David Mulder said at a news conference that Theodore was tested Dec. 12. A month later, the Hockey Canada doctor informed Mulder about Theodore's test result.

 

Mulder said Theodore tested positive because the goalie has been taking Propecia, a hair-growth stimulant, for about eight years -- even though he has a full head of hair. Mulder said he was aware that Theodore was taking the Propecia.

 

Propecia, Mulder said, was placed on the banned substance list about two years ago. Besides helping grow hair, it is considered a masking agent for other performance enhancers.

 

Mulder stressed Propecia alone is not a performance enhancer.

 

He said he was "convinced" the goalie was not using the drug to mask the use of performance enhancers.

 

NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said in a statement that Theodore also faces no sanctions for future positive tests for Propecia because the goalie had already applied for an exemption for prescribed use.

 

Last month, Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Bryan Berard was suspended from international competition for two years after testing positive for a banned steroid. Berard didn't make the U.S. Olympic team. He also was not subject to league discipline.

 

Earlier Thursday, World Anti-Doping Agency president Dick Pound repeated his criticism of the NHL's drug-testing program at press conference in Torino, Italy.

 

The NHL introduced random tests for performance-enhancing drugs this season, but anti-doping authorities have attacked the plan as weak and ineffective.

 

"It amounts to practically nothing. There are no offseason tests. And you're not allowed to test a player after a game or before a game," Pound said.

 

Theodore is 17-15 this season with a 3.46 goals-against average but has struggled over the last month and a half, with a 4-9 record and a 4.06 GAA.

 

Chritobal Huet made his fifth consecutive start in goal for the Canadiens against Buffalo on Thursday night.

 

 

 

 

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LOL, Jose Theodore :lol :lol :lol .

 

If you're gonna get busted, then get busted for something like anabolic steroids... not "propecia" :lol

I wonder if this is also the reason why he went from the Vezina Trophy to being considered a liability?

I wonder if this is also the reason why he went from the Vezina Trophy to being considered a liability?

Because he is going bald? :lol

He's got one of the sweetest 80's hockey mullets in the NHL right now, he definitely didn't need that propecia for hair growth.