SAY IT AIN’T SO, WAYNE

NHL personalities linked to probe of gambling ring, police say (David Shoalts and Paul Waldie, Globe and Mail, February 8th, 2006)

The National Hockey League has been hit with a major scandal amid allegations Phoenix Coyotes assistant coach Rick Tocchet financed an illegal gambling ring with possible connections to organized crime, according to the Attorney General of New Jersey.

New Jersey State Police confirmed that as many as 12 current and former NHL players, coaches and management figures are also under investigation, and there are reports that Wayne Gretzky's wife is among them.

In what New Jersey police called "Operation Slap Shot," Mr. Tocchet was charged with promoting gambling, money laundering and conspiracy. Two other men, including an eight-year veteran of the state police force, were charged with similar offences.

The men — James Ulmer and Trooper James Harney — were released yesterday on bail. Mr. Tocchet is expected to appear in a New Jersey court soon.

The Associated Press has reported that actress-wife Janet Gretzky was among those allegedly having placed bets, citing two law enforcement officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because no bettors have been publicly identified.

Wayne and Janet Gretzky were married in 1988 in Edmonton in what became Canada's version of a royal wedding. The couple, who have five children ranging in age from three years old to 17, maintain two residences, one outside Los Angeles and another in Phoenix.

Asked about her alleged involvement, Mr. Gretzky laughed and said, "Oh really? I don't know. You'd have to ask her that."[...]

Mr. Tocchet, 41, said his arrest was "not a hockey-related issue, it's a football thing."

Football? Oh well, that’s all right then. Whew!