This guy is a moron. Tocchet only financed the whole operation and Gretzy's wife and Roneick places bets with that operation he was a part of.



Bettman can't afford the gamble on Tocchet?

Aug 18, 2007 04:30 AM
Damien Cox

Rick Tocchet just isn't in Tim Donaghy's league.

Donaghy, the disgraced NBA referee, was doing shady business with guys named "Sheep," betting on league games himself, passing on information about referees and players and advising others how to bet.

Really, it was a basketball version of insider trading, and Donaghy will never officiate another game and is going to prison.

You also can't even accurately draw a comparison between Tocchet and the only NHLers ever banished from the league for betting; Babe Pratt, Billy Taylor and Don Gallinger. Those fellows bet on NHL games, some of which they were playing in, while Tocchet at least stayed away from that particular violation.

And what about Michael Vick? He is now abandoned by all his friends and cronies, who are now more than willing to accuse him of masterminding a dogfighting/gambling operation and even participating in the grisly execution of under-performing dogs.

Even the gambling tie, however, doesn't put Tocchet in Vick's category. The Atlanta Falcons quarterback, based on the horrific evidence, should be banned from the NFL for life. Perhaps a few thousand community hours working in humane societies might help him understand a rape stand is somewhat more evil than a Friday evening game of backgammon. How a man confuses cruelty with entertainment is unfathomable.

But the fact Tocchet isn't as nefarious as his sporting contemporaries or those from the past doesn't mean he should get the kind of blanket pardon more than a few people in the hockey world believe he deserves because, after all, he's such a good guy.

Indeed, the fact he decided to attend and participate in the World Series of Poker last month while fully aware his sentencing on gambling charges was imminent suggests Tocchet isn't such a good guy, ignores his lawyers or has the reasoning power of cabbage.

Tocchet was given two years probation yesterday for being the partner of a rogue New Jersey state trooper in a large, multi-million dollar sports gambling ring. Tocchet's pals like to tell the world he was barely involved, while the trooper, James Harney, testified Tocchet was his 50/50 partner.

Somewhere in between those two extremes probably lies the truth.

Tocchet has been unable to coach in the NHL since January, 2006 while on "leave" from the NHL.

So what further punishment, if any, does he now deserve from the NHL?

You can't dodge the fact that Tocchet is now a convicted felon, and that his ill-advised poker trip last month certainly didn't indicate any intention to avoid gambling affiliations in the future.

That said, the NHL and other leagues aren't exactly untarnished by their own flirtations with the legal gambling world. The NHL, for example, embraced an arena deal in Pittsburgh, which is mostly financed by a casino.

Still, comparisons and inconsistencies aside, the NHL can't possibly countenance having a coach convicted of felonious gambling activities simply go back to work.

Before Tocchet decided to plead guilty, it seemed to make sense that he should sit out until Christmas.

But now a season-long ban makes more sense. It's an opportunity for commissioner Gary Bettman to acquire the undivided attention of every player and coach in the league, particularly those who continue to make excuses for Tocchet and suggest what he did was essentially harmless.

Two years out of hockey would match two years of probation. It should also be accompanied by the stipulation that the former all-star winger steers clear of any and all future gambling involvement – poker, pie-eating contests, whatever –as long as he works in the league.

If he can't do that out of basic respect for the game, the game surely doesn't need him.