Five players reveal shocking details about NHL's cocaine abuse issues.

NHL players have begun revealing details into the substance abuse issues that the league is dealing with.

In an in-depth feature by Magnus Nyström of the Swedish daily newspaper Expressen, five NHL players, from bot past and present, spoke about the use of cocaine and alcohol in NHL, and what it means in a constantly evolving league.

Speaking under the veil on anonymity, these players spoke freely regarding the issues players face regarding these increasingly popular substances.

Here are some excerpts from the piece:

"It was the Stanley Cup playoffs and everyone was playing their best hockey of the season. But something was wrong. Two players shocked their closest acquaintances."

“These players became crazy. Totally crazy. They just kept going and we all wondered what was going on. I called a Swedish teammate of the players and he answered ‘we think that they are on something, we can barely speak with them on a match day.’”

This source even went as far as to state why he believes that cocaine has become so popular:

“Cocaine can be better than alcohol, because you won’t be hungover.”

One Swedish NHL player, who played in the 80's, recalled the moment that former Leafs' star Börje Salming was suspended for six games following an admission of cocaine use during his career. He believes that Salming's suspension made other remain quiet, for fear of league reprisals.

“At that time cocaine was common at parties. Many tried it. Me as well. It was stupid and something I came to regret. But the suspension of Salming also meant that the players that had problems and needed help kept quiet as they didn’t want to get that suspension, too.”

All the players that have spoken with SportExpressen state that they are aware of other players that have used drugs, even if only a small group of them wind up getting in trouble because of it.

“If you go at it too hard off the ice you become a worse player on it. Many players stay calm just because of self-preservation. But it is different over here. The first time I went to a party and they started smoking marijuana I was shocked. I didn’t know where to go. For me that was a narcotic and completely alien. But for many in the US it’s comparable to alcohol and it is even legal in a state like Colorado.”

“How you party is usually decided among the leadership group of the team. If you have a core group that is serious and wants to win then it’s usually calmer. Then there is talk about teams with core players that are wild and teams that could have been so much better if they hadn’t partied as hard.”

One of the sources, who's name appears on the Stanley Cup, wished to make rookies aware of the temptations they will face once they enter the league.

“You are thrown into a very different world. Many players have never held a ‘real’ job; they are young, and they get an unbelievable amount of money, and women who throw themselves at them. It is not something that is easy to handle. I have had to speak with young players that have lived from paycheck to paycheck, because they burned through almost everything even with the money they made.”

However, he believes that players do have the right to blow off steam.

“I am not speaking about drugs, and I have never seen it with my own eyes. But sometimes you need to party hard because of the pressure we live in. It’s not often, but if you are on a road trip with a rest day between games then you party really hard to clear the system. Then it’s only the Sedins that are at the hotel drinking coffee.”

Bill Daly spoke out last year about this issue, and he believes that even though cocaine users are rising in the league, it is far from an epidemic.

“You wont survive in the league today if you are not behaving. Today’s players are also more aware of the importance of diet and training regimens, and everyone has a personal trainer. No one had that before. With social media around there is also an added risk of getting caught.”

"The NHL and NHLPA have always worked closely together to help the players, when it’s needed, with their private life.

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