No place for gambling in pro hockey

Jeremy Roenick plays for the Philadelphia Flyers. He is an all-star hockey player with a gregarious personality, used by both the National Hockey League and television to help sell the league.

This week Roenick said he gambled on football and basketball games up until this past January, when, as he put it, “I shut it off cold turkey.” He did so when approached by Flyers general manager Bob Clarke who wanted the gambling stopped, even though the NHL does not prohibit players from gambling on sports other than hockey.

There is no evidence Roenick ever bet on hockey.

Roenick said the Flyers were not aware that he also used a gambling tip service, National Sports Consultants, to whom he paid over a period of years some $50,000 to $100,000 for “inside” information to help him place bets.

Eleven handicappers of that company have pled guilty to federal gambling charges accusing them of falsely claiming they had inside information and of taking kickbacks from offshore Internet casinos. That investigation revealed Roenick’s use of the company.

Let’s note a couple of things here. The National Football League prohibits its players from betting on team sports, the NHL does not. It’s time to change that and time for all professional sports leagues to end all sports gambling by their players

It just smells bad to do otherwise.

I know Roenick and like him, but the gambling is not good. By affiliating himself with a gambling-tip service, he has created the appearance of evil, even if none occurred. Did he, intentionally or otherwise, provide “inside” information to the company that they then sold to other gamblers who bet on hockey?

It would only take a comment about how he or other players were performing, or how a team was really worn out physically or mentally to give the handicappers something they could use.

Worse yet, the handicappers could say they knew Roenick, helped him place bets and thereby give the impression they had inside information as they winked and told customers to bet money on this or that NHL team.

It can only get worse from there, as a player could get a break on what he is charged for on tips because he talks with the handicappers. Then the losses pile up and are forgiven for another couple of tips, etc., etc., etc.

None of that happened here, did it? There will be more to come on this story, if only to define just what was going on between Roenick and the tip company.

The NHL is investigating.

Gambling continues to grow in this country. Governments at every level view it for revenue. Customers dream of the get-rich-quick scenario.

Sports’ gambling has generally been off limits, legally, but the push is on by governments and gambling operators to open those doors. The dollars that would be spent are enormous.

Inside information will only grow in value and that means the crooks of gambling will be after the athletes at every level.

It’s time to bar the door.

There should be no gambling by athletes on sports, period.

The integrity of the games is at stake.

Old Town native Gary Thorne is an ESPN and ABC sportscaster.