Terrible news for us 32 Thoughts podcast fans
That sucks. I enjoyed him on 32 Thoughts
I am reading an article on The Athletic. Marek was among the people who would know the draft picks 1-2 minutes before it was announced on-air and he was tipping off a friend (a former NHL scout who has his own scouting service and has recently done scouting and personnel work for the OHL Barrie Colts). No accusation the friend was using it to gamble and make money (actually sounds a bit unlikely) but the friend was posting the picks on social media before the official announcement which allowed him to brag about his genius in predicting the draft perhaps undeservingly boosting his hockey bonafides.They haven't put out a new pod since the end of June. Kind of wild.
Was a good ~2x/week hockey news podcast, but if it's over there are other ones out there. Not sure what Marek did but his role at SporsNet has continued to diminish the last few years.
Not odd at all. Assuming that the mains thread and the article has it correct, Marek got the info directly from the NHL/broadcasting company, and then told it forward before it was officially announced. That's just a no-no in any professional industry, distributing confidential information like that. And if you then add the betting considerations (somebody could be profiting/the rights-holders or their partners would be losing out), it's just a clear cut case of fireable offense (if not more!).
The difference to e.g. Seravalli (no idea about NBA/NFL), as far as I understand, is that Seravalli got the info indirectly, i.e. it was leaked to him or he did investigative/journalistic work or whatever. He wasn't under contract with the informant(s).
Such a shame if this is what happened, I really enjoy(ed) listening to Marek. But he should've known better. I don't understand how he apparently didn't.
(I can sort of understand the part of "providing an old friend with info so he can better prepare for the announcements, just like the broadcast crew" angle, but when there's already been clear evidence from prior years that said friend has leaked the info publicly before the announcements and even gloated about that, I'm running out of excuses for Marek to have continued this practice...)
According to a publicly available document from the Nevada Gaming Control Board on requirements licensed books must adhere to regarding wagers on the NHL Draft, “acceptance of wagers which involve a specific player must cease 24 hours prior to the start of the first round. Acceptance of all other wagers must cease prior to the start of their respective round.”
Yeah I don't know how long those gambling sites keep open. I can't remember how it was on the sites I use, it certainly wasn't 24 hours but probably closed one hour before the event started.There's no gambling implications, unless someone is finding a place that will take a wager ~20 seconds before a pick is made.
I meant odd for a few reasons. As you noted, why would Marek consistently feed the picks to a friend. A handful of times wouldn't raise as much suspicion, but *every* pick?
Also, you'd think Sportsnet would have a written policy about this. The article notes they're notified of the picks a couple minutes ahead of time for graphics, getting cameras on the draftee, etc. If they don't want the pick "leaked" they should have a written policy on it. This sounds more like it was, "hey, you shouldn't have done that, now you're fired."
I think Oilers keep Holloway but let Broberg go...4.5m for him is nuts
Somebody check on Viqsi, are we sure she's here and not actually Doug Armstrong ruining Stan Bowman?
What a move by the Blues.
Can't take credit. Admittedly, I'm less sold on Broberg mostly because I think he was being propped up by Ekholm and there's no Ekholm equivalent in St. Louis.
Oh. Well then I evidently have no clue.You're thinking of Bouchard. Broberg played with Nurse and I think Kulak.
Maybe it's the power of suggestion or whatever but I initially read that circular logo text as "OVERDUE."
I see this hurting the USHL. On the flip side it could allow more NCAA programs to improve and maybe even some new schools jumping into the game because the pool of players would improve.
This could be big if it creates an escape from staying in the CHL until they are 20 if they aren’t ready for the NHL but even bigger if it allows top CHL players an opportunity to grow in the NCAA.
It absolutely hurts the USHL and the CHL if players could go the NCAA route and get paid. Maybe not a huge amount but the top players could go NCAA for a year or 2 and NHL team could perhaps use the NCAA as indirect feeder teams. Imagine if the CBJ could somehow have drafted prospects play at OSU for a year or 2 versus continuing to be stuck in a league they are ready to move out of like the junior leagues. OSU boosters foot the bill for a year before the player then gets to go to Cleveland instead of forcing them to stick in junior until they finish their eligibility.I see this hurting the USHL. On the flip side it could allow more NCAA programs to improve and maybe even some new schools jumping into the game because the pool of players would improve.
It absolutely hurts the USHL and the CHL if players could go the NCAA route and get paid. Maybe not a huge amount but the top players could go NCAA for a year or 2 and NHL team could perhaps use the NCAA as indirect feeder teams. Imagine if the CBJ could somehow have drafted prospects play at OSU for a year or 2 versus continuing to be stuck in a league they are ready to move out of like the junior leagues. OSU boosters foot the bill for a year before the player then gets to go to Cleveland instead of forcing them to stick in junior until they finish their eligibility.
It certainly seems to give more flexibility on prospect development.