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Shane Pinto won’t return to the National Hockey League until January, but he was the centre of attention Friday morning.

As NHL staff and players gathered at their facilities to have breakfast or a coffee before stepping onto the ice for a morning skate or practice, a large part of their discussions likely surrounded the 41-game suspension to Pinto for violating the league’s gambling regulations.

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Many players were reaching out to their representatives Friday to try to find out what happened that the hammer came down so hard because the NHL made it clear he never bet on his own sport.

“It’s unfortunate that he’s being made a scapegoat and he’s the guy being used as the example” a league source said Friday. “I feel bad for Pinto because whatever happened he probably thought nothing of it and he would never bet his own games.

“I feel badly because there’s not enough education for these kids because it’s all coming at them so fast and there’s more that needs to be done.”

As Postmedia reported Thursday, sources say Pinto’s online gambling account in the United States was flagged by a company that is a partner of the league because of unusual activity and it contacted the NHL’s head office in the summer because of concerns about impropriety.

We’ve been led to believe that NHL players weren’t aware until Pinto’s suspension that any player who opens an online betting account has their information forwarded to the league’s security department for compliance purposes.

You can be certain there were players across the league deleting the gambling apps on their phones once they found out that was the case in the last 24-to-48 hours.

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It’s done to protect the integrity of the game because as we’re all aware, many of these betting companies either have a partnership with the league or they’re buy advertising space in NHL buildings or on broadcasts of the games across North America.

There has been talk Pinto couldn’t access the New York-based gambling account because he was playing in Canada and he may have shared his password with a third party. That’s called “proxy betting” and Hockey Night’s Elliotte Friedman says companies don’t allow.

If that happened, did a third party that had access to Pinto’s account make wagers on NHL games? That’s the query everybody wants answered and there’s been no clarity on whether that was the case, but something happened that was untoward to warrant a lengthy suspension.

The NHL doesn’t like the mere sniff of impropriety.

That’s why Gary Bettman summoned Pinto, his New York-based agent Lewis Gross and representatives of the NHL Players’ Association to the head office in New York earlier this month and let them know the commissioner was going to set an example with this suspension.

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The NHLPA negotiated the length of this decision and Pinto agreed to it so he accepted the fact he did something wrong, which is why he was apologetic in a statement released by the organization.

Under the terms of the ban, Pinto isn’t allowed to practice with the Senators or spend time at the Canadian Tire Centre. He won’t be able to return to the rink until 10 days before he’s eligible to return and that’s scheduled for Jan. 21 against the Philadelphia Flyers.

At that point, Pinto will be allowed to participate in team meetings and practices. Given the fact he’ll already have missed half a season, you’d have to think he’ll need time with the American Hockey League’s affiliate in Belleville before suiting up with the Senators.

The belief is Pinto will head to the University of North Dakota in the coming days to stay ready for the NHL season. He suited up for two seasons with the Fighting Hawks in Grand Forks before signing with the Senators in March, 2021 and would be welcome to use the club’s facilities.

Once Pinto is ready rejoin the Senators, he’ll have to be signed to a contract and that likely won’t happen until he can return. The expectation is he’ll sign a one year contract close to or just above the $875,000 qualifying offer he received from the club in June.

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A league source said the NHL and the NHLPA have to do a better job of getting the message of the concerns of gambling across. Once the union learned of the investigation, it stepped up its efforts to discuss gambling in executive director Marty Walsh’s tour of teams this fall.

“You could even argue that the NHLPA should have been more on top of this,” said the source. “They (the union) could say, ‘Hey, gambling is becoming prominent guys, make sure you’re not gambling and this section of the CBA prohibits you from gambling’.

“Don’t think that telling a player you can’t go into a casino and bet on an NHL game is good enough because you can do it from your phone.”

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