All of Northeast Philly’s childhood idol, exposed

Ohhh, boy. Former Flyers prettyboy fighter and favorite-of-everyone Rick Tocchet has been charged with promoting a gambling ring tied to organized crime. Rick, how could you? (And by that, I mean run a gambling ring without giving me the chance to place a bet or two with it.)

Oh, and about 12 current NHL players placed bets with that syndicate, but it doesn’t appear they gambled on hockey. (I don’t even know how you could gamble on hockey, anyway. I guess you can gamble on anything, but who bets on anything but football anyway?)

Tocchet is currently an assistant for the Phoenix Coyotes. Two other men, James Harney (a state trooper from Marlton) and James Ulmer (from Swedesboro) were also arrested. The gambling ring allegedly took $1.7 million in bets on pro and college sports, mostly football and baseball, according to NBC 10.

Oh, and they’re investigating players (current and former) and a Hollywood movie star as part of the ring.

As Matt Drudge says, DEVELOPING…

Update: Action News says that ex-Flyer Mark Recchi and Janet Jones are involved. Janet Jones is Wayne Gretzky’s wife.

Ex-Flyer Tied To National Gambling Ring [NBC 10]