Convicted criminals in NHL history

[Hasbro]

Did Bobby Hull ever get convicted on any domestic violence charges?

 

[Iain Fyffe]

Did Bobby Hull ever get convicted on any domestic violence charges?

No, there was one charge that was later withdrawn. However he did plead guilty to assaulting a police officer that arrested him on that charge IIRC.

 

[Theokritos]

Should probably add Alan Eagleson.

If we're including off-ice people: Harold Ballard.

http://www.cbc.ca/archives/entry/1972-leafs-owner-harold-ballard-convicted-of-fraud
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harold_Ballard#Criminal_trial_and_the_Summit_Series

 

[Killion]

Harold Ballard; Found Guilty of 47 counts of Theft & Fraud in August, 1972. Heres a clip from CBC archives before his Sentencing...
Interesting look at the Gardens as well, Team Canada, Dryden etc preparing for the upcoming Summit Series....

www.cbc.ca/player/Digital+Archives/Sports/Hockey/Toronto+Maple+Leafs/ID/1590528956/

Note the seating at Maple Leaf Gardens.... Red Seats Lower Bowl Ice-Level, followed by Blues, Greens & then Greys. Upon Ballard release from prison, major renovations, smaller seats jammed in in order to increase capacity, Gold seating replacing Red at Ice Level on up, priced accordingly...

Received a 9 Year Sentence however he won early Parole and allowed to serve out the remainder of the 1/3rd time in jail required at a Toronto Halfway House starting in October 1973. His co-accused Stafford Smythe dying of bleeding ulcer before his trial began, 50yrs of age.... Staffords son Tommy Smythe was then Manager of the Leaf & MLG's owned OHA Jr. A Toronto Marlboros. The afternoon of the morning of his father Staffords Funeral, Tommy Smythe headed to work at the Gardens, only to find that Harold Ballard had had all of his belongings put out on the sidewalk.... The next year, with all but 2 players that Tommy hadnt picked, the Marlboro's went on & won the Memorial Cup, and 12 of those players went on to have lengthy pro careers, winning a considerable number of Stanley Cups amongst them.

If we're including off-ice people: Harold Ballard.

... you miss post #13 on the preceding page Theo?

 

[Theokritos]

... you miss post #13 on the preceding page Theo?

My bad! I should have expected you to be on the ball and not let that gentleman off the hook.

 

[Killion]

My bad! I should have expected you to be on the ball and not let that gentleman off the hook.

... Yep. Harold E. Ballard. I also ran a post on Clarence Campbell & there are quite a few other off-ice individuals awaiting their turns here. Amongst others, William Boots Del Biaggio & John Spanos Jr. Edward J. DeBartolo Sr who owned the Pittsburgh Penguins was on the US Department of Justices Organized Crime Persons of Interest Watch List for decades with reputed ties to Meyer Lansky & Floridas' Trafficante Mob Family. Then theres James D. Norris Jr. Real piece of work.... quite the Rogues Gallery. And while some never charged nor convicted of crimes, suspicion weighed heavy throughout their lives that they were up to no good. Very narrowly avoiding charges & prosecution, deals made.

 

[double5son10]

Dear lord, that rap sheet for Probert is impressive. Multiple incidents over the span of nearly 20 yrs. Me thinks Bob had a screw or two that were a tad loose.

 

[Hoser]

Dear lord, that rap sheet for Probert is impressive. Multiple incidents over the span of nearly 20 yrs. Me thinks Bob had a screw or two that were a tad loose.

In the words of Rick James, "Cocaine's a hell of a drug."

 

[Hasbro]

As far as I know former Lightning owner Takashi Okubo has never been convicted of a crime (and there were rumors he didn't even exist), but suspicion that his company Kokusai Green was a money laundering front for the Yakuza.

 

[Voight]

McNall was convicted of many white collar crimes.

On December 14, he pleaded guilty to five counts of conspiracy and fraud, and admitted to bilking six banks out of $236 million over a ten-year period. He was sentenced to 70 months in prison

Former Sabres owner John Rigas was also convicted on some big white collar crimes.

Rigas was forced to resign from his position as CEO in May 2002 after being indicted for bank fraud, wire fraud, and securities fraud. His sons Timothy and Michael, as well as James Brown and Michael Mulcahey, were also charged with participation in these crimes. The executives were accused of looting the corporation by concealing $2.3 billion in liabilities from corporate investors and of using corporation funds as their personal funds.

John was convicted of the charges in the summer of 2004 and on June 27, 2005 was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison. Adelphia Corporation was forced to file for bankruptcy after it acknowledged that the three Rigases had taken $3.1 billion in loans that were not recorded on the books. In 2005 John and Timothy were charged with tax evasion and pleaded not guilty in October 2005. On January 27, 2012, the charge of tax evasion was officially dismissed. Following John's arrest, the NHL virtually stripped him of his authority over the Sabres.

 

[Robert Gordon Orr]

Some of the more recent cases (1970s to now) of shady owners that comes to mind.

Paul Greenwood (NY Islanders) – 10 years for fraud

William “Boots” Del Biaggio III (San Jose & Nashville) – 8 years for fraud and forgery

Peter Pocklington (Edmonton) – 6 months for fraud

Bruce McNall (Los Angeles) – 5 years and 10 months for conspiracy and fraud

John Spano (NY Islanders) – 10 years for grand theft and forgery. He had already spent 10 years on two different occasions.

John Rigas (Buffalo) – 15 years for fraud

Nelson Skalbania (Calgary) – 1 year for fraud/theft

Harold Ballard (Toronto) – 9 years for fraud, theft and tax evasion (served a third of his sentence)

Henry Samueli (Anaheim) - five years probation and a fine for lying to SEC

Sanjay Kumar (NY Islanders) – 12 years for fraud

 

[Voight]

I was going to mention Spano but IIRC the paper needed to "officially" transfer ownership to him were never signed. But he was close enough that the owners let him make all the decisions he wanted.

 

[MS]

Here's a preliminary list just to get the thread going.
Not all are convicted criminals of course, but they had a brush with the law.

Jail time
1986 – Dave Hunter (sentenced to serve four months of jail time as a result of receiving three drunken-driving convictions in 1985 and refusing to take a breathalyzer test. Initially given mandatory 28-day jail sentence, served during the season, The sentence was extended to four months, but Hunter was released on bail and forced to serve the remainder of the sentence during the summer of 1986.

1993 – Dave Hunter (served seven days in jail for his third impaired driving conviction in six months)

Jeez, didn't realize Dave Hunter was such a chronic loser. 6 DUIs?

 

[gifted88]

Didn't make the NHL like his brother but Daniel Ryder had some issues with the law. Though I think they said he was unfit to stand trial.

 

[overpass]

Bert Olmstead was convicted of assault in 1958 for beating up a mining executive at an offseason banquet. He was sentenced to six months in jail which was reduced to a fine on appeal.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?n...wMxAAAAIBAJ&sjid=rd8FAAAAIBAJ&pg=4617,2189077

 

[Killion]

Bert Olmstead was convicted of assault in 1958 for beating up a mining executive at an offseason banquet....

Huh. Never heard about this before & yes, based on everything Ive ever read & heard about Olmstead I would say out of character unless seriously provoked. Very odd. I know he wasnt much liked by Carl Brewer & some of the younger Leafs when he arrived in Toronto, thinking he an Imlach "spy" & who's demanding work ethic they determined a tad neolithic but never anything like this.

 

[Voight]

Jeez, didn't realize Dave Hunter was such a chronic loser. 6 DUIs?

"Chronic Loser" haha that gave me a good laugh

 

[Hasbro]

Jose Theodore's father was a biker who got into some trouble.

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

Jeez, didn't realize Dave Hunter was such a chronic loser. 6 DUIs?

and now he works with teenagers. what a world.

 

[billybudd]

I'm not sure he ever signed a contract, but Flyers draft pick Ladi Scurko stabbed a referee to death at a truck stop. Otherwise, I think that long list just about covers it. Tibbetts, I think, had more allegations than what is listed, but his (wealthy) family may have gotten him out of most of them.

2006 – Ken Daneyko (arrested for drunk driving and faced charges of driving while intoxicated, careless driving and failure to maintain lane)

So I guess that Masterton for giving up liquor was a little premature.

 

[The Panther]

Gary Bettman and cronies -- convicted by hockey fans for destroying the League...

 

[BadgerBruce]

Jarrett Reid (6th round pick of the Hartford Whalers in 1992) and former Sault junior player:

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/op...s-remain-hockeys-little-secret-169280446.html

Quote:

"In 1993, star player Jarret Reid was charged with 22 offences after police investigated allegations from two former girlfriends. These included five sexual assaults, two break-and-enters, nine bodily assaults, uttering a death threat, two mischief charges and two breaches of bail order.

Reid pleaded guilty to several extremely violent and brutal crimes of rape, sexual assault, and assault causing bodily harm. He received a nine-month sentence and was out in three in December 1995.

Greyhound assistant coach, Danny Flynn, became the head hockey coach at St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, N.S. He arranged for Reid to receive the university's prestigious athletic leadership award which recognizes leadership qualities on and off the ice. He also received a Petro-Canada athletic scholarship from the Canadian Olympic Committee on the recommendation of Flynn and Hockey Canada. Reid made the CIAU (now CIS) all-star team, and while on probation, illegally crossed the border in April 1997 to play the NCAA all-stars.

Flynn and coaches Daryl Young, Myles Muylaert and Tim Bothwell all pleaded ignorance when asked why they broke American law and brought a convicted sex offender over the border.

"He's a powerful player and did so well for us," said Young. "He assisted Kevin Powell on the third goal when we were tied with the U.S. in overtime."

On April 21, 1997, Reid was charged with three new counts of assault and two breaches of parole after an Antigonish girlfriend reported him to police. He went back to jail in April 1998.

During the same time, teammate Andrew Power was convicted on counts of sexual assault against a female.

Reid played professional hockey in Europe in 2005-06. Today, you can pay between $255 and $283 a session at WAVE Hockey in Burlington, Ont., and have your children coached by him. When asked how he was able to obtain such a job, Reid replied, "I paid a lawyer a lot of money and I got a pardon." His employers are fully aware of his violent history and endorse him wholeheartedly. Today, Flynn is head coach and director of operations of the CHL's Moncton Wildcats. In 2010, he was inducted into St. Francis Xavier's Hall of Fame."

According to The Globe and Mail in 2008, he was providing training to girls aged 8-17.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news...ag-for-parents/article1065636/?service=mobile

Quote: "Parents of players in a Southern Ontario girls' hockey club are troubled after learning yesterday that power-skating classes were taught by a man with a history of sexual assault and violence against women.

Jarrett Reid, a native of Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., helped run clinics for members of the Burlington Barracudas, aged 8 to 17, last season and for a month this season. The club informed parents yesterday that it had temporarily suspended the clinics after learning that Mr. Reid, a contracted trainer, pleaded guilty twice in the 1990s to several counts of sexual assault and assault causing bodily harm involving two former girlfriends."

 

[Voight]

I'm not sure he ever signed a contract, but Flyers draft pick Ladi Scurko stabbed a referee to death at a truck stop. Otherwise, I think that long list just about covers it. Tibbetts, I think, had more allegations than what is listed, but his (wealthy) family may have gotten him out of most of them.






So I guess that Masterton for giving up liquor was a little premature.

I think eh got sober again after that incident, when he was on Battle of the Blades they claim he was again sober.

 

[nutbar]

Len Barrie

http://www.timescolonist.com/business/len-barrie-i-always-said-i-never-did-anything-wrong-1.792566

 

[Iain Fyffe]

Len Barrie

http://www.timescolonist.com/business/len-barrie-i-always-said-i-never-did-anything-wrong-1.792566

Sorry, but doesn't that article specify that no criminal charges were being filed against Barrie? The only thing he got hit for was a penalty for late-filing one corporate tax return, and that is not a criminal offence.