Ottawa Senators forward Shane Pinto’s suspension back in October of last year for violating the NHL’s betting policy for 41 games has finally been discussed in more detail as Pinto addressed the suspension.
Pinto said that he was suspended by the league for 41 games for proxy betting, during an appearance on the ‘Empty Netters’ sports podcasts this week, And while the NHL said that they had not found any evidence that Pinto bet on NHL games, the Ottawa Sun reported that Pinto’s United States online gambling account was flagged for unusual activity.
“I had buddies, because I was in Canada, just place bets for me in America,” Pinto said during the appearance (h/t Legal Sports Report). “I wasn’t a Canadian citizen, so I really couldn’t use a Canadian sportsbook. … That’s proxy betting, so that’s obviously a big no-no. It was an illegal act. It was a pretty big deal, so that’s why we didn’t want to fight it and just accepted it.
“A lot of people thought I bet on the NHL, because it was such a long thing. But they said it in their press release, the NHL, that that never happened. So I think that helped the situation a lot.”
“We already have a comprehensive education program,” NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said, per the report. “I suppose we will review what we currently do to see if it can be improved (or needs to be), but I’m not overly concerned that players don’t understand what’s permitted and what’s not.”
