TSN has been recognized with a 2020 Canadian Association of Journalists Award for reporting on the use of powerful painkillers by National Hockey League players.

The CAJ Awards recognise the best investigative Canadian journalism each year. TSN’s 30-minute documentary “The Problem of Pain” won the award for Best Broadcast Feature.

Other broadcast feature award finalists included CBC, APTN, and The Documentary Channel.

TSN staff who worked on “The Problem of Pain” include Rick Westhead, Matt Cade, Craig Chambers, Adam Fair, James Judges, Curry Leamen, Karl Roeder, Scott West, and Kevin Fallis.

"On behalf of the whole team, my biggest congratulations to the TSN Originals group on receiving the award for Best Broadcast Feature from the Canadian Association of Journalists," said Nathalie Cook, VP, TSN & RDS. "This story explores an urgent issue affecting the well-being of athletes, and this award is a testament to our commitment to sports journalism and investigative reporting of the highest calibre.”

In “The Problem of Pain,” former Detroit Red Wings defenseman Kyle Quincey, Vancouver Canucks forward Ryan Kesler, long-time Anaheim Ducks forward Bobby Ryan, and former Ottawa Senators forward Zenon Konopka discuss dealing with both the chronic and acute pain that NHL players navigate during the season.

Kesler is known for playing through a string of injuries during the 2011 playoffs. While he suffered a groin tear and hip labrum tear in Game 5 of the Western Conference Final against the San Jose Sharks, he didn’t miss a game.

“For me, I only knew one position, and it was full out and full gear,” Kesler told TSN in the feature. “I battled through a lot and it takes a lot out of you. Just to put it very simply, you feel like you’ve been hit by a Mack truck, you feel like you’ve been in a car accident. That’s really what I went through.”

Kesler, Quincey, and Konopka each said team medical staff regularly gave them painkillers including Toradol, an anti-inflammatory that is not supposed to be used for more than five days. It’s meant for short-term treatment of pain, often used before or after surgery. The player said NHL team medical staff never informed them about the long-term risks of using the drugs frequently.

 “When it was really bad, I used Toradol,” Kesler said. “I never wanted to hurt the team, so I knew I had to play. And to play you’ve gotta take painkillers because if you don’t do that, you’re going to be labelled as a guy that doesn’t battle through injuries and that’s not something I wanted.”

According to his doctors, Kesler’s overuse of Toradol led to colitis, which causes inflammation of the inner lining of the colon.

“It ate holes in my colon,” Kesler said. “I wasn’t made aware of what this drug could potentially do to me.”

Kesler was eventually diagnosed with Crohn’s disease.

“Players can lie about this, but every single player in that locker room is on a painkiller,” Kesler said. “Anything that can help limit your pain and your discomfort and get you on the ice and play.”

Quincey said he was given Toradol on a daily basis by his teams’ medical staff during the latter part of his NHL career.

“Religiously. Every day. There’s no way I could get through a season without that,” Quincey said. “If you took a Toradol, it would mask all the pain. It did not matter how banged up you were and it never messed with your head. So you could focus, play a game, but literally run through a wall and not feel it. How good I felt on that drug — I felt like Superman. I couldn’t get hurt.”

Due to the restrictions of COVID-19, the CAJ Awards were presented online on Saturday night, with finalists invited to participate in a video conference live streamed on the CAJ’s Facebook page.