From the AP:
A second man accused of running a gambling ring with former hockey star Rick Tocchet will plead guilty and agree to cooperate with authorities, according to a report published Thursday.James Ulmer will plead guilty Friday in state Superior Court to promoting gambling and conspiracy and faces up to 364 days in county jail, according to The Star-Ledger of Newark, which cited law enforcement officials who spoke to the newspaper on the condition of anonymity.
In his column last week at ESPN.com, John Buccigross wrote that he thought it was ironic that the league was working so closely with a group that owns a casino in order to build the Penguins a new arena, while Rick Tocchet has apparently been blackballed from the NHL for his involvement in this case.
Ironic? Yes. Unfair? You better believe it. But not surprising. There isn't one team in the NHL who would give Tocchet a job with a case like this hanging over his head. And with it looking like everyone else involved is copping a plea in order to testify against him, I think it's going to be a long while before Tocchet ever works in the NHL again, unfair as that might be.
The bottom line remains what I wrote last August:
Things don't look good for Tocchet, do they? In the end, his involvement has been an incredible stroke of luck for authorities in New Jersey. Had Tocchet's role in this affair been played by someone without his public profile and connection to the NHL, the spotlight would have been exclusively trained on the New Jersey State Police.Instead, what would have been a one-day story in New Jersey gets the name "Operation Slap Shot", and the State Police get to publicly deflect all the attention onto Tocchet, Wayne Gretzky and his wife.
And so it goes...
