I’ve been trying to wrap my head around the Shane Pinto 41-game suspension for activities related to gambling, but not on hockey, that was levied Thursday by the NHL and there’s still a lot to tackle in all of this. The obvious gimmick is to blame the onslaught of betting sites that are popping up as more and more states legalize the once taboo world of sports betting. Hell, Ottawa’s helmet sponsor is one of those betting companies. 

But, like I mentioned, this is no longer a taboo thing anymore. Sports betting is mainstream, if you hadn’t noticed at every turn of a sporting event. It’s more annoying than anything when you’re inundated with the ads at every turn– both in the game and in commercials. Someone questioned how it’s any different than being inundated with alcohol ads and there’s a point to be made– but also because alcohol hasn’t been taboo in the mainstream since the prohibition era back in the 1920s and 1930s. 

While Pinto is the first modern player in the NHL to be busted, it has happened before in the 1940s with incidents in Maple Leaf Gardens with Babe Pratt, Don Gallinger, and Billy Taylor all being caught. 

Yet, the head scratching part is with all the information at our finger-tips and all the “sources” that are around, nothing about the specifics of the gambling has been made public. The NHL has said players can bet on games that aren’t hockey and the NHL said this has nothing to do with Pinto betting on games– so then what the hell happened?? 

Is Shane running a website called Pinto’s Picks where he’s giving inside information about injuries or lifestyle happenings of his teammates and friends across the league?? Did he give money for someone else to bet under an assumed name?? Those would almost entail more than just half a season for a suspension. 

Considering there’s going to be no appeal on the matter and the NHL closed the case, it’ll be hard-pressed now to find out the how and why. In the cycle of 24-hour news, it’ll be soon forgotten to the ethos until Pinto is eligible for return and signs a contract– which will bring a whole lot of “Betting on Himself” headlines when he finally does. 

Could this be the tip of the iceberg for the NHL when it comes to gambling cases?? We had some of the Evander Kane fiasco lean that away a few years back with no solid findings, but with the increasing availability to being able to place a bet, which young kid coming up looking for a big score will slip up and really have the book thrown at them?? 

It’s easy to say, “Just take betting companies out of hockey,” but the action itself isn’t as easy nor should it be an option. As annoying as these gambling sites are, they have the money and they have reach. Things the NHL wants to possess, so it’s not going away until it burns itself out. All it means it the NHL needs to have a tighter security monitoring the players and their habits, akin to big brother, so that there’s not a huge scandal that’ll give the NHL the wrong kind of attention they’re after.