Wayne Gretzky's wife and about a half-dozen NHL players placed bets -- but not on hockey -- with a nationwide sports gambling ring financed by Phoenix Coyotes assistant coach Rick Tocchet, New Jersey authorities said on Tuesday.
Gretzky expected Tocchet to be on the bench for the Coyotes' game against the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday night, but at the request of NHL commissioner Gary Bettman, Tocchet did not attend the game. Gretzky said after the game that Tocchet would meet with Bettman in New York on Wednesday.
"The sad thing about this whole scenario is that Rick is a wonderful person and a great guy, so I hope everything works out in his favor," Gretzky said. "It's hard because I love the guy. He's a great guy, you know. I just hope it all works out for him."
Gretzky, considered hockey's greatest player, is in his first season coaching the Coyotes and is a part-owner of the team.
Actress-wife Janet Jones was among those implicated, two law enforcement officials told AP, speaking on condition of anonymity because no bettors have been publicly identified.
Gretzky said his wife was in California. The two talked, he said, but she did not speak about her involvement.
"We didn't get into it other than she was concerned about Rick and she felt it was a tough situation with him," Gretzky said, "and she would sit down at some point and answer questions that everybody has for her and be her own person."
Gretzky said "absolutely not" when asked if she had placed bets for him.
Except for trips to Las Vegas, Gretzky said, he's no gambler.
State police Colonel Rick Fuentes said an investigation -- named "Operation Slapshot" -- into the New Jersey-based ring discovered the processing of more than 1,000 wagers, exceeding US$1.7 million, on professional and college sports, mostly football and basketball.
The developments came at a sensitive time for the NHL, which is trying to win back fans after a season-long lockout and just days before many of its best players will showcase their talent at the Turin Olympics.
Tocchet was served with a criminal complaint Monday and was expected to travel from his Arizona home to answer charges of promoting gambling, money laundering and conspiracy, Fuentes said.
A criminal complaint informs Tocchet of authorities' intention to formally charge him and the need for him to arrange to travel to New Jersey for formal charging, or face arrest.
"It's not a hockey-related issue, it's a football thing. And at this time I can't comment any further," Tocchet said after the Coyotes practiced Tuesday.
Gretzky had said Tocchet would work Tuesday night, and it would be "business as usual." But Bettman changed that plan, summoning Tocchet to New York.
"Everyone in the world is innocent until proven guilty," Gretzky said. "He's a great guy and a good friend. He's just going through a tough time right now, obviously, and we've got to let it run its course. It's a situation that's obviously a concern for the organization at this point."
Tocchet acknowledged that a New Jersey state trooper arrested in connection with the gambling ring case is his friend. Tocchet said he would cooperate with the investigation but didn't answer when asked if he'd surrender to authorities.
"We understand that Mr. Tocchet's conduct in no way involved betting on hockey," NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said. "And, while betting on football or other sports may be the pervasive issue, it in no way justifies poor judgment or otherwise alleged inappropriate conduct."
Daly said the NHL was conducting its own investigation.
Authorities said Tocchet and state police Trooper James Harney were partners in the operation, with the ex-NHL forward providing the financing.
"Tocchet received illegal sports bets from wagers and funneled money back to New Jersey," Fuentes said.
Tocchet, one of three associate coaches on the Coyotes' staff, played 18 years with six teams, including three seasons with the Coyotes from 1997-2000. He is one of only two players in NHL history to collect 400 goals and 2,000 penalty minutes.
Maple Leafs 4, Thrashers 1
At Toronto, Alex Ponikarovsky, Darcy Tucker, Kyle Wellwood and Bryan McCabe scored goals and Toronto beat Atlanta for the seventh straight time.
Ed Belfour made 33 saves for Toronto, which has outscored Atlanta 22-3 in four games this season. Marian Hossa spoiled Belfour's shutout bid with a power-play goal 18 seconds into the third.
Sabres 3, Canadiens 2, OT
At Montreal, Maxim Afinogenov scored his second power-play goal of the game on a 5-on-3 man advantage 30 seconds into overtime to give Buffalo its sixth straight win.
Montreal tied it with 3:36 left in the third on Alex Kovalev's breakaway.
Derek Roy also scored for Buffalo, and Ryan Miller made 30 saves.
Chris Higgins added a short-handed goal for Montreal.
Blackhawks 3, Coyotes 1
At Glendale, Arizona, Radim Vrbata and Martin Lapointe scored 1:24 apart in the second period for Chicago. Mark Bell also scored for Chicago.
Geoff Sanderson scored for Phoenix.
Avalanche 5, Oilers 2
At Denver, Alex Tanguay had a goal and two assists, and Milan Hejduk and Brett McLean added power-play goals as Colorado down Edmonton.
Rob Blake and Andrew Brunette also scored for the Avalanche. Jarret Stoll and Radek Dvorak scored for Edmonton.
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but
Taiwanese gymnast Lee Chih-kai failed to secure an Olympic berth in the pommel horse following a second-place finish at the last qualifier in Doha on Friday, a performance that Lee and his coach called “unconvincing.” The Tokyo Olympics silver medalist finished runner-up in the final after scoring 6.6 for degree of difficulty and 8.800 for execution for a combined score of 15.400. That was just 0.100 short of Jordan’s Ahmad Abu Al Soud, who had qualified for the event in Paris before the Apparatus World Cup series in Qatar’s capital. After missing the final rounds in the first two of four qualifier