SPORTS FLASHBACK 1999: Martens bitter over loss of Pan Am medal

Rosenort’s Mike Martens is incensed over a teammate’s failed drug test which cost his Pan Am Games team the gold medal in roller hockey.

Martens was assistant captain of the Canadian roller hockey team that won a gold medal in an emotional 7-6 triumph over the United States in the championship final. The joy of victory was short-lived, however, when Canadian team goaltender Steve Vezina tested positive for drugs and the team was stripped of its gold medal.

Here are the events as they unfolded, told to The Carillon by Martens, who was a former star with the Steinbach Hawks of the MJHL and the University of Manitoba Bisons.

In unfettered jubilation, the 10 Canadian players celebrated with the capacity crowd at the Max Bell Centre, when the final buzzer went off, signalling Canada’s gold medal win. It was when Martens and Canadian netminder Steve Vezina were skating around the rink with a Canadian flag that they were fingered to take random drug testing, which is done at all events.

Unconcerned, Martens went for his testing and, of course, passed without a hitch. But when Vezina found out he was going to be tested, he immediately fell ill and was sick to his stomach. Said Martens angrily in the telephone interview, “If I would have been full of drugs like he was, I would have been sick to my stomach too, knowing I was about to be tested. He was fine during the celebration, then suddenly he was sick to his stomach, when he found out he was being tested.”

The testing was forgotten and the celebration continued. Of course, the test results were not immediately known, and it was Saturday when it was confirmed Vezina’s body was laced with drugs.

Ironically, Vezina and Martens both play in the professional Roller Hockey International League (IHL) in the United States; Martens, 31, in St Louis and Vezina, 23, in Buffalo.

Friday night, the day before Vezina’s positive test was revealed, Vezina was in the nets in a game at St Louis and Martens scored three times on his Team Canada teammate.

They chatted after the game, not knowing they would soon become the focus of international media attention.

Monday afternoon, on national television, in what appeared to be a hollow apology to his teammates and Canadian fans, Vezina said he would be contacting all of his teammates to offer his personal apology over his actions that caused Pan Am Games officials to strip the entire team of their gold medals. Martens said if Vezina phones him, it will be a very short conversation.

“I am bitter, to put it nicely. I am very upset he would take matters into his own hands, the apology he gave to the players on television was a joke.”

Mike was just warming up, and he got angrier as the conversation carried on.

“This kid doesn’t have a clue how far-reaching his actions have become. He screwed every player and their families on the team, he screwed every Canadian athlete at the Games and he screwed the Canadian roller hockey program.”

Martens says Vezina outright lied to the Canadian medical team prior to the Games. Required to fill out a detailed form answering questions about all possible ingestion of drugs, prescription or over the counter, Martens says Vezina must have lied.

In fact, he took Sudafed, which contains two banned stimulants, just before the gold medal game. In his system he also had massive amounts of the muscle building steroid Nandrolone, which also is a prohibited substance.

Clearly hurt by Vezina’s actions, Martens says the respect he had for Steve Vezina is totally gone.

“This was a deliberate violation of the rules. Now his stupid, idiotic, self-centered actions will affect his Team Canada teammates forever, as he has singlehandedly shattered what for many was a lifelong dream.”