As the saying goes, you only get one chance to make a first impression.
And if this is how the National Hockey League is going to interact with the sports betting public regarding player suspensions for wagering-related transgressions, this first impression is a chance badly blown.
Last Thursday Ottawa Senators free agent forward Shane Pinto received a 41-game suspension for “wagering-related activities.” That’s about all the NHL would tell us about what he did.
What makes the league’s lack of transparency all the more disappointing is that the NHL already had a practice run of sorts when it comes to public relations and sports wagering and seems to have learned nothing from it.