Tocchet the gambler (NPR)

[KG]

Hopefully he wasn't betting on the pens winning any time soon...http://tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=153954&hubname=nhl

[davemess]

Action News has learned that the ring could also be linked to former Philadelphia Flyer Mark Recchi - who now plays for the Pittsburgh Penguins, Janet Jones - who is the wife of hockey legend Wayne Gretzky, and the ring could be tied to the crime family of Bruno Scarfo.

http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?secti ... id=3883497

That is a little worrying.....

[ville5]

So if Recchi goes to jail, does that mean his salary is wiped from our cap and payroll??

[Admin]

That is a little worrying.....

Seriously, Janet Jones? I'm worried.

[Mad City Mike]

About a dozen current NHL players placed wagers, said Fuentes, who declined to identify them.

And we wondered why the Pens have looked so bad all year? I'll bet all these 12 are Edzo and players, and they fixed the games. I feel much better knowing the real reason for this disaster

[GJ]

See! And we want an arena financed by gambling!
(Watch some people run with this.)

[Tocchet]

100%, absolutely, positively, without a doubt NOT GUILTY!!!!

Due to the pending charges, we cannot comment further.

[BCHill]

If Recchi is only gambling and not financing the operation like Tocchet I don't think he is doing anything illegal. I'm not a lawyer though.

[BCHill]

Roenick had been "investigated" for his involvement in a gambling operation a while back, and this article on what happened could shed light on the Recchi situation:

Roenick name cleared during investigation By abigailJeremy Roenick, player with hockey team Philadelphia Flyers, has had his name cleared after suspicions that he might have been involved in bets involving his own sport or team. Roenick has been investigated as part of a wider investigation involving National Sports Consultants- a company that sold betting tips on sports to gamblers.

The company was raided in April of this year, and Roenick became involved after US federal agents saw his name on their list of clients. Although it is true that Roenick paid the firm around US$50,000 for information and tips on sports, it has been found that none of this information involved the sport he played. Mike Johnston who was involved with the investigation has announced that “He (Roenick) never became a target of the investigation, and we at no time developed any information that he was involved in any illegal activityâ€￾.

While Roenick’s name is now publicly cleared, eleven employees of National Sports Consultants have pleaded guilty to federal gambling charges. The company became the object of investigation when it was suspected that they were falsely selling information regarding sports, and for allegedly taking pay offs from some offshore online casinos. The investigations that have taken place have confirmed these suspicions and now eleven employees have admitted guilt in selling information they didn’t actually possess.

So, as long as Recchi's involvement is gambling only, and not hockey gambling, he's fine.

[Admin]

Isn't this in the wrong forum

Ex-Penguin-related is Penguin-related, no?

[BCHill]

Roenick had been "investigated" for his involvement in a gambling operation a while back, and this article on what happened could shed light on the Recchi situation:

..snipped..

So, as long as Recchi's involvement is gambling only, and not hockey gambling, he's fine.

That is really good to know! Recchi takes a lot of dumping on, but I still like the guy. Met him once when they Flyers were playing at MSG, and he is a class act off the ice.

I agree. He's a good guy and I'm surprised his name even surfaced in something like this. I hope it's completely unfounded.

[BCHill]

Another point - Recchi and his father had bought race horses at one time as well as other NHL players like Dominic Hasek. I guess there's a chance the involvement could have some connection to his racehorses. But we're only speculating.

[Scott]

In reality, it doesnt even matter if they are gambling on hockey, just as long as it isnt their own team/game that night.

What if they were betting on their own team to just win and cover? haha Technically, nothing wrong with that either.

[Ironhorse]

There goes any remaining hope for an arena. The Governor will cite this as but an examply why a NHL franchise should not be involved with gambling and the slots board will agree. The final nail?

[BCHill]

Sorry to keep this going but a recent article stated that the NHL players bet on football and basketball, and not hockey (gee, who didn't bet on football this past weekend?)

That's the good news. The potentially bad news is that is also says charges against more individuals could be coming.

http://msn.foxsports.com/nhl/story/5313610?print=true

[pfim]

The Pens would not be involved with the casino.

[Tocchet]

There goes any remaining hope for an arena. The Governor will cite this as but an examply why a NHL franchise should not be involved with gambling and the slots board will agree. The final nail?

Sorry, but how's that relevant at all?

Rendell's opinion on this means nothing. It's not like he can use it as an example of how it'll affect society or the city of Pittsburgh, so what hapens in the NHL is really none of his freakin' business. The NHL itself has already said that they're fine with it, so Rendell can kiss my arse.

[Bowser]

PFIM - but, but, but.... the great patrons would leave the arena and waste their life away going to the casino like those poor students at Duquesne.

[Draftnik]

There goes any remaining hope for an arena. The Governor will cite this as but an examply why a NHL franchise should not be involved with gambling and the slots board will agree. The final nail?

Wrong. A legal slots parlor has absolutely nothing to do with illegal bookmaking on sports. Do you know who the Maloof brothers are? Do you know what NBA team they own? Do you know that they can't take NBA action at their sportsbooks? Their involvement is much more direct in professional sports than some 3rd party that doesn't even have a sportsbook building an arena then having nothing whatsoever to do with professional sports.

[BCHill]

In reality, it doesnt even matter if they are gambling on hockey, just as long as it isnt their own team/game that night.

What if they were betting on their own team to just win and cover? haha Technically, nothing wrong with that either.

But the NHL could, and probably would, have a problem with that.

[wondermoose]

Who else isn't surprised it happened in New Jersey and Philly? Honestly!

[randy]

You beat me to it wondermoose.
Ill bet Lindross gets named. Wasnt he linked to philly mobsters once before?
Its not too hard to imagine who in the NHL might be linked to this.

[Admin]

"...12 NHL players or people closely associated with NHL clubs, including one team owner..."

http://tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=153963&hubname=

[BurghThing]

Organized crime in Philly? I wonder how they are going to keep Lyin' Ed's name out of this?

[pfim]

Tocchet played with two current NHL owners. I don't think he was taking bets for Ed Snider, makes sense that it would be Gretz, but I wouldn't rule the other guy out either.