Just tell him no he can't Bettman and end this suspense.

Tocchet still in limbo

Tocchet remains on the outside looking in

Jim Gintonio
The Arizona Republic


The waiting game the NHL is playing with the Coyotes and Rick Tocchet has turned into a joke.

What gives?

He was charged in February 2006, admitted he was involved in an illegal gambling operation and two months ago was sentenced to two years of probation. No mob ties, no fixing games, no jail time, no betting on hockey.


Yet the NHL has decided to put Tocchet in limbo, to this day not having a timetable on when it will make a decision on his future in the sport. There is no reason for the delay. The league and its counsel, Robert Cleary, have had ample time to rule.

And there is absolutely no reason why Tocchet should not be allowed to return to the Coyotes bench as an assistant coach.

Put down $20 in the next office betting pool and hold the moral outrage. Gambling is not the worst of all evils, and it's obvious that the NHL is trying to send a message. Any link to gambling sends sports officials into a panic.

But consider these three well-known cases:


• Craig MacTavish, then a member of the Boston Bruins, spent a year in jail in a vehicular-homicide case. The NHL welcomed him back the next season, and he is coaching the Edmonton Oilers.


• Bob Probert, one of the league's all-time great enforcers for Detroit and Chicago, was arrested multiple times on suspicion of driving under the influence and was convicted of smuggling cocaine. He served 90 days in jail. The NHL suspended him indefinitely but lifted the ban about a year later after he left a substance-abuse program.


• Toronto Maple Leafs forward Mark Bell is going to jail for six months at the end of this season after pleading no contest to drunken driving and hit-and-run charges. He was suspended for 15 days at a time when he was already suspended indefinitely because he was in Stage 2 of the NHL's substance-abuse program. It took the NHL less than a month to decide on the 15-day suspension.

Did you get that?

Vehicular homicide: one year, back in the NHL.

Drug smuggling, several arrests in DUI cases: 90 days, return to NHL.

Drunken driving, hit-and-run, substance abuse: 15-day suspension, able to play now and serve time after the season.

Probation for gambling: persona non grata. And he has missed more than 100 games.

Do you want to rank the above cases on a scale of one to four?

Commissioner Gary Bettman has no pressing matters in front of him. The man needs to tell Tocchet if he can or cannot return. And he needs to do it today.