Rick Tocchet Knows When to Cut His Losses

Remember Operation Slap Shot? After all the hysteria about hockey's presumed betting scandal, it wrapped up quietly today in a New Jersey courtroom.

Former NHL player Rick Tocchet pleaded guilty Friday to running a sports gambling ring, but might not have to serve any jail time...

He pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to promote gambling and promoting gambling. Such offences usually do not carry a jail sentence for first-time offenders.

So no courtroom drama, no stunning testimony, no giants of the sport bought to their knees. The scandal fizzles because prosectors say NHL games were never on the board, a point emphasized in a statement from Tocchet's lawyer. It was just "a football thing," as Tocchet claimed last year.

That hardly makes it a good news story for hockey. An NHL coach helped run a gaming racket that handled cash in the millions, with plenty of his hockey pals reportedly in on the action. Not the sort of achievement that earns a guy a ceremony at center ice or a place in the Hockey Hall of Fame.