The Ottawa Senators played the first half of their season without Shane Pinto, the forward who was suspended for 41 games by the NHL for unspecified gambling-related reasons.
Pinto, 23, played all 82 games last season for the Senators, who are last in the Eastern Conference and a major Ontario sports betting longshot to even reach the playoffs. On Sunday, in a 5-3 victory against the Flyers in Philadelphia, Pinto had one assist, two hits, two shots and a plus-2 rating in 14:33 of ice time, pretty impressive numbers for his first game this season.
“A long time coming,” Pinto said, according to NHL.com. “Just glad we got the two points, and it’s just good to be back. Got my first game over with and now, I can just focus on hockey.”
Pinto was suspended in late October, though the league said that an investigation “found no evidence” he had bet on hockey. We wondered: How do other athletes come back after serving long suspensions? OntarioBets.com, your home for Ontario sportsbook apps information, looked into history to find out. We ordered this list by league: NHL, then MLB, NFL and NBA, with some less notable names excluded.
Notable Long Suspensions And What Happened Next
Shane Pinto Could Still Have Productive Career
Many of the players on our list, especially in baseball, were suspended after testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs. Several were on the tail end of their careers anyway.
Still, for anybody participating in NHL betting in Ontario, there are also some examples of players who went on to have long careers after they were banned by their leagues.
In the NFL, Michael Vick was named 2010 Associated Press Comeback Player of the Year and was second in AP Offensive Player of the Year voting for his strong season with the Philadelphia Eagles. The former Atlanta Falcons quarterback had missed two seasons (2007 and 2008) after spending time in prison for his role in a dogfighting ring.
Outside of the “Black Sox” scandal, after which MLB banned eight members of the 1919 Chicago White Sox for life for conspiring to throw the World Series, probably the most famous gambling-related suspensions were meted out in 1963 to two big names. The NFL sidelined Paul Hornung of the Green Bay Packers and Alex Karras of the Detroit Lions for the entire season. Both resumed their careers afterward and both were eventually inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
In the NBA, both Ron Artest (later known as Metta World Peace) and Latrell Sprewell played for several years after they were suspended for the remainder of their seasons for violent actions. Artest, banned for his role in the “Malice at the Palace” brawl in 2004, played all the way until 2017. Sprewell, who never played for Golden State again after attacking coach P.J. Carlesimo during practice in 1997, was traded to the New York Knicks and had five strong seasons there. Sprewell wrapped up his career in 2005 after two final seasons with the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Ottawa Senators Stanley Cup Odds
Ottawa is listed anywhere between +20000 and +30000 in Stanley Cup betting odds at various sportsbooks, indicative of one of the worst teams in the league.
It’s too early to say how Pinto’s career will go after his suspension, but the fact the Senators are going nowhere might play in his favor, because the team can afford to be patient with him the rest of this season as he works his way back into peak playing condition. Another positive for Pinto is he just turned 23 in November, so he should still be approaching his peak as an NHL player.
