Is Hockey Fixed?

There is a pretty interesting book out there called The Fix: Soccer and Organized Crime.

It looks at how organized crime, particularly Asian gangs, has corrupted the world of soccer at it's highest levels, including European Champions League, Olympic and World Cup matches and tournaments.

Author Declan Hill explains the structure and mechanics of illegal gambling syndicates, what soccer players and referees do or not do to affect the outcome of their games, why relatively rich and high-status athletes would take money to fix games, and how they get referees on their side.

Absolutely amazing stuff. Even more mind-blowing: FIFA, soccer's governing body, does nothing about it, and may even be somehow in cahoots with the criminals. A Russian godfather claims to have been seen sitting in the FIFA president's luxury box during World Cup games.

After reading this book your faith in the purity soccer at every level is completely shaken. You might as well extend that to all of sports. The book also touches on basketball, tennis, cricket, even rowing.

And we all remember disgraced NBA referee Tim Donaghy's ties to gambling, even though the NBA has somehow kept that hushed. To me that is a far bigger deal than baseball's Pete Rose.

Could organized crime be trying to fix hockey matches too?

Do not kid yourself. If organized crime is match-fixing rowing competitions, they are likely interested in a slice of hockey's big money pie. There is corruption in all facets of life, so why would professional hockey be immune?

There has even been some suspicion about mobster involvement. If you are in Canada you may remember a investigative journalism piece about 9 years ago for CBC's The Fifth Estate that looked at how Russian players associating with known members of the Russian mafia, perhaps forced to do so because of mafia extortion attempts. That Fifth Estate documentary was done by, you guessed it, Declan Hill.

I could not find that documentary on YouTube, but I found this Declan Hill written article about the Russian mafia's interest in hockey.

Hill estimates as high as 80% of Russian players have had to deal with the mafia, including Oleg Tverdovsky who had his parents kidnapped and Alexei Zhitnik who was beaten severely. The Mafia also "introduces" themselves to promising junior players as young as 15 or 16, looking to befriend someone they can soon extort.

Their interest in hockey is not restricted to extorting rich NHL players, insists Hill. Extortion is for low level criminals. Game fixing is where the big boys play for big, big money. But beyond that obvious statement Hill offers nothing to suggest any hint of players being bribed to throw games.

Instead, he goes on to say the mafia tend to use sports stars to legitimize themselves in the public's eye. If they are seen chumming around with famous sports stars, that is great for business and reputation, particularly mainstream business.

The Russians, led by Pavel Bure's friend Anzor Kikalishvili, are the only organized criminals publicly associated with hockey, although with the money involved you would have to wonder about North American mobsters, too.

Historically though, mobsters and gambling have never been far from the NHL, especially at the owner level.

Most notable were the Norris family. James Norris Sr, long-time owner of the Detroit Red Wings, and his son Jim Norris, who owned the Chicago Blackhawks, had ties to some of the sleaziest swindlers. In the late 1950s the United States senate even investigated the Norris family's relationships with mafia king pins, most notably Frankie Carbo.

Then there was Big Bill Dwyer, one of biggest bootleggers and mobsters during the prohibition era. He used his illegal monies to buy the New York Americans way back in the 1920s.

Now let's remember these owners are guilty of suspicious association more than anything. We have absolutely no reason to believe these owner's conspired to fix games. They just had ties to the mob.

Even without the mob involved, when there is gambling involved there is a possibility of game fixing. And the NHL has had other owners/administrators who were noted gamblers.

Always quick to defend Jim Norris in particular was none other than Toronto Maple Leafs boss Conn Smythe, one of the most legendary figures in hockey history. He was never afraid to gamble his own money, especially at the race track. He built his empire, the Leafs and Maple Leafs Gardens on winnings.

His understudy, Frank Selke, also shared his hobbies. Selke of course went on to create the Montreal dynasty of the 1950s.

Speaking of the storied Montreal Canadiens, they were largely funded by gambling money from 1921 to 1936. Owners Leo Dandurand, Joe Cattarinch and Louis Letourneau operated a casino in Cleveland, Ohio and were also noted racetrack visitors.

Gambling has also been associated with a few players. Most notable are four players

1. Babe Pratt, Toronto's all star defenseman, gambled on NHL games back in the 1940s. He had his suspension eliminated after just 16 days as there was no proof he placed bets on games involving the Leafs.

2 and 3. Don Gallinger of Boston and Billy Taylor of New York teamed up to gamble on the outcomes of NHL games, including games they were participating in. Both were suspended for life, though they would be pardoned by the NHL some 20 years later.

4. Back in 2006 retired player/Phoenix assistant coach Rick Tocchet he played some role in a crooked New Jersey cop's small time betting scheme. Though taking bets on hockey never occured, Tocchet pled guilty to conspiracy and promoting gambling charges.

And if you believe Dick Beddoes' book Greatest Hockey Stories, Hall of Famers Sweeney Schriner and Teeder Kennedy were also noted gamblers. And some upset fans accused the great Howie Morenz of taking a bribe after Morenz failed to score in a playoff series against the Montreal Maroons in 1928. The disbelieving fans, some of whom undoubtedly lost money on their own bets, could not believe Morenz did not play better.

Again, we have no reason to believe there has ever been any game fixing in hockey. But we also know mobsters have their own definition of power play.

Gambling and Athletics

I'm going to give full disclosure on this article. To help defray the costs of running this website, I have accepted sponsorship from an online sports betting house called BetUS.com.

It was not an easy decision. Sports and gambling is a taboo subject. Complicating matters is the fact that my girlfriend's mother is the program manager of an addiction services center, including offering help on gambling. The dangers of gambling are real, even though to sports fans it has become perceived as less jeopardous.

While I was away on vacation the relationship between athletics and gambling hit the spotlight thanks largely to NBA referee Tim Donaghy. Donaghy has been accused of betting on basketball games, including games which he was officiating. Reports also suggest Donaghy has ties with organized crime, throwing the credibility of the NBA and all sports into question.

Not so long ago hockey's relationship with gambling was back in the headlines, as Rick Tocchet plead guilty to charges of third-degree conspiracy and third-degree promoting gambling in New Jersey. The chapter will hopefully come to a conclusion on August 17th, 2007 when Tocchet's sentencing hearing is scheduled.

Tocchet was expected to receive probation for his cooperation, and probably still will. Then we will see if and when his indefinite "leave" from the National Hockey League will be lifted.

Tocchet didn't do himself or the NHL any favors when he recently took part in the very popular and completely legal World Series of Poker, as did Wayne Gretzky's wife Janet Jones and current NHLer Maxime Talbot. Tocchet went AWOL on day two of the tournament, perhaps by NHL orders or by a delayed jolt of common sense. Tocchet's poor decision to take part in such a high-profile gambling event won’t help him when he stands before a New Jersey judge or NHL commissioner Gary Bettman.

Gambling's relationship with sports has almost always existed, and everyone involved in sports, even us fans, walks a fine line with the taboo subject of speculative wagering.

Obviously sports teams don't want to be associated with gambling, particularly of the illegal and organized crime variety. When someone like Donaghy or Pete Rose or the many people involved in separate match-fixing in Italian soccer scandals in 2000 and 2006 is found to have bet on games where they had the opportunity to influence the outcome, the credibility of the league is questioned. For more listings of sports betting scandals, check out this article from Sports Business News.

Here's a little rundown on hockey's history with gambling. Hockey had two scandals back in the 1940s.

On January 30, 1946 Pratt was suspended by the NHL. Pratt was the centerpiece of an infamous gambling scandal. Babe Pratt was suspended for betting on NHL games involving games that didn't involve his Leafs. Initially the banishment was forever, but Pratt later admitted his ways and promised not to do them again. After 16 days, Pratt was reinstated. The NHL would change its constitution shortly afterwards to eliminate any appeal process for players found guilty of gambling.

Two years later, Boston Bruins teammates Billy "the Kid" Taylor and Don Gallinger were banished for life for associating with James Tamer, "a criminal and gambler of Detroit," and for betting on games which they were participating in. The NHL steadfastly cleared both players of ever trying to fix a NHL game, however.

Despite an initial claim of innocence, the promising Gallinger admitted his guilt some 19 months later. Investigations found Gallinger betting as much as $1000 on games involving the Bruins. Strangely enough, his $1000 bet was on a game against Chicago where he expected the Blackhawks to win. Boston would win that game, with Gallinger scoring the very important tying goal. Gallinger was also found to be supplying undesirables with Bruins injury information.
Taylor, who had been traded to the New York Rangers 2 games prior to the news break, was immediately expelled for life as it was found he had a $500 bet with Tamer for the same game. Taylor was a spectacular player most notably with the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 1940s. His reputation as a passing-fancy draws comparisons to Wayne Gretzky.

Both Gallinger and Taylor had their lifetime bans lifted in 1970.

Earlier than that even, the NHL allowed Manhattan's prohibition bootlegger king, Billy Dwyer, in as the owner of the Hamilton Tigers. The native of Hell's Kitchen, NY immediately moved the team to New York city and renamed them the Americans. He also secretly purchased the NHL's Pittsburgh Pirates, using former boxer Benny Leonard as the operations front man.

Dwyer's purchases may have been as much about money laundering and gambling as any interest he had in hockey. Dwyer took an active role in owning the team, often trying to rig NHL games. For example, in New York he put a goal judge in that would call a goal against an opponent merely if the puck touched the goal line. It happened one night in 1927-28 when Ottawa was at Madison Square Garden. However, the goal judge seemed more interested in taunting Ottawa goalkeeper Alex Connell. Connell finally butt-ended the goal judge in the nose, which caused Dwyer's buddies to seek Connell's death that night. It took a police detail to get Connell out of the Gardens that night and at the train station, someone inquired if a gentleman was Alex Connell. Connell lied and said he was not, knowing he was in danger.

While sports organizations try to distance themselves from the dreaded gambling association, they love the residual benefits of legal gambling and friendly wagers on their product. It creates a great following, as fans tune in regularly to see what happened each night. It is great for the league, and great for the journalism/broadcasting industry.

Over the years the gambling subject has, wrongly, become less taboo. Leagues love it and sportscasters love it just as much. The interest created if you have a little something riding on a game is great for everyone, except maybe the loser of the bet.

It has become so much more accepted that every hockey fan I know who has ever criticized gambling has admitted to participating in a hockey pool or one of those province/state sponsored lotto games. It is a form of gambling, and as anyone who has played these or spent even just a few minutes at a slot machine knows it is quite addictive.

In this new world where poker is a high profile sport on television and on the internet, and sports betting websites like BetUS.com, it is easier than ever to gamble. The only lecture I will leave you all with is, as they say here in British Columbia, know your limit, play within it.