Asthma and Hockey

Inhalers are like a breath of fresh air for hockey players with Asthma. Photo by Chris Dawson.

Martin Lauzon is preparing for another practice, but before he hits the ice Lauzon has one important routine to follow.
He inhales two puffs of asthma medication to help him breathe properly on the ice. The North Bay Trappers forward was diagnosed with Asthma about two years ago.
“When I was playing sports and I was really having trouble breathing so I decided to go see my family doctor and they took testing and they told me I had asthma,” said Lauzon.

“I just feel like I can’t breathe anymore and I really need some air, it just feels like no air is going in your system that’s it.”

“When they are not having an episode, they perform normally,” said Vicky Sutherland, who runs the local North Bay office of the Canadian Lung Association.

“The problem is when they come in contact with one of their triggers. The bronchial tubes start to constrict and then they need to be on their medication, so what happens then is they have shortness of breath, weezing and then they have to take a reliever which will help them get through that initial episode and probably have to increase their medications, so working with their doctor they would get over that episode and to go on playing their sport normally.”

Lauzon is just one of many minor hockey players in North Bay and around the country that have the incurable lung disease.

But that doesn’t mean Asthmatics can’t excel at a physically draining sport like hockey. Just ask Asthmatics and NHLers like Jordan Leopold and Gary Roberts.

“Medication and nutrition are the two ways that I’ve been able to control my asthma,” Roberts said.

“People don’t really take it seriously enough, the nutrition is very important as well as the environment making sure you are aware of the things that trigger your asthma and try to avoid being near them or eating them.”

Jordan Leopold, who helped lead the Calgary Flames to the Stanley Cup final last year, didn’t find out he had the disease until he was 11 years old.

“When I was younger I had severe allergies and really it was kind of an offset of the allergies,” said Leopold.

“My allergies kind of went away and then I developed a little lung problem so, I just kind of have sports induced asthma a little bit of allergic asthma, lots of dust and the environment that I live in, if it’s moist and humid I have a tougher time breathing , it’s tough in the summer time, in the winter I have a couple inhalers that regulate myself and it’s really tough in those summer months when it’s hot and humid in Minneapolis, doesn’t get like that hear in Calgary but back at home it’s tough when I go out for a run, but I just kind of watch myself, I’ve had one asthma attack and that’s it and I just pray that I don’t have another.”

For Asthmatics like Lauzon, seeing NHLers performing (barring a season cancellation) makes him breathe a little easier.

“I like to think that even if you have asthma, with the new inventions that you can make the NHL, it’s not a big deal anymore,” said Lauzon.