Shane Pinto breaks silence on gambling suspension: ‘It broke my heart’

A Friday practice in the middle of January is usually a mundane and bleak exercise, especially for a club mired in a five-game losing streak.

But for Shane Pinto, Friday’s session had a hint of magic and excitement. Nine days before he is eligible to return from one of the longest suspensions in NHL history, the young centre was finally permitted to return to the ice with his teammates in Ottawa.

“I don’t want to get too emotional, but it’s awesome,” Pinto told a handful of reporters in Ottawa on Friday. ” It’s been a long road for me.”

That road has come with unexpected twists and turns. It started as a contractual stalemate between the restricted free agent and the hockey team. But at the end of October, the NHL revealed that the main reason Pinto wasn’t playing for the Senators at the start of the regular season was that he was the subject of an intense investigation into gambling-related activities. On October 26, the league announced for “activities related to sports wagering.”

In his first public statement since the news broke, Pinto stated on Friday that he was devastated to be on the receiving end of a suspension that lasts exactly half of the regular season. He said he was “definitely caught off guard” when the NHL handed him the suspension at the end of October.

“It broke my heart, honestly. I care about this game so much,” Pinto said. “I put so much time and effort into it. To get it taken away from you for that long, it’s tough to hear. You’re kind of in shock at first.”

Pinto was reflective as he handled the question about the biggest lesson he learned throughout this process.

“Life can change in an instant,” Pinto said. “I learned that pretty quick.”

The NHL and carried no specifics about the infraction. On Friday, Pinto declined to shed any additional light on what he did that warranted the suspension in the first place. But just as he expressed in a written statement about the suspension in October when he took “full responsibility” for his actions, Pinto was equally accountable on Friday when speaking to reporters.

“I got to be more cautious, more mature in what I’m doing. I got to realize what position I’m in,” Pinto said. “There is always going to be a microscope on professional athletes. I took that for granted and I got to be better about it.”

When asked if the proliferation of gambling-related advertisements in hockey, from commercials, to rink board advertisements — even the Senators have a betting sponsor on their helmet — was a reason for his misstep, Pinto declined to go down that road.

“You see it on the commercials now, but that’s not (an) excuse,” Pinto said.

Given the ambiguity around his suspension — with so few details shared — Pinto says several NHL players reached out to him for clarification on the rules so they wouldn’t make a similar mistake. And he said he’s happy to speak to any athlete who is concerned about the rules.

“That’s what I’m there for. Just learn from my experience,” said Pinto. “I talked to a lot of players. It’s good that I can help.”

Pinto expressed his appreciation for the outpouring of support he said he received from all corners of his life, from his family, teammates, Senators management and ownership and many Ottawa fans who reached out to him on social media.

“It just means a lot to get that support,” Pinto said. “There were definitely a couple of hard days. A lot of long days. I had a lot of people in my corner.”

family home in Franklin Square on Long Island. He’s been in Ottawa for the past three weeks, skating by himself prior to re-joining his teammates on Friday. He is targeting a return next weekend, as he’s eligible to play on Sunday afternoon in Philadelphia. Pinto says it will likely get him a game or two to get his timing back, but he says conditioning will not be an issue once he returns to Ottawa’s lineup.

“It was an extended offseason. My body feels unreal,” Pinto said.

As good as Pinto feels physically, he has pronounced himself even mentally stronger after facing this adversity over the past several months.

“A lot of maturing went on. I grew up a lot off the ice,” Pinto said.

The 23-year-old, who tallied 20 goals in his first full NHL season in 2022-23, still requires a new contract before he suits up on Sunday. He remains a restricted free agent, but after receiving so much support from the organization, it’s hard to imagine this will be a sticky negotiation in the days ahead. Pinto will likely agree to a one-year contract to get him up and running, so he can put this ordeal in the rearview mirror.

“We’re at the finish line here,” Pinto said. “I’m just ready to move on. It’s been about eight or nine months now since I’ve played hockey. And I just want to focus on hockey.”

When Pinto rejoins the Senators, he will not be connecting with the same group that was filled with so much promise and optimism at the end of last season. Instead, he’s parachuting into a situation where the club is in a virtual free fall in the standings, sitting firmly in the basement of the Eastern Conference. Pinto acknowledged that his absence certainly didn’t help matters for the hockey club back in the fall.

“It’s been a tough couple of months here,” Pinto said of the team’s on-ice struggles. “I know I’ve been a distraction towards us, so I kind of feel bad about that.”

We should expect a more polished and mature Pinto, but he’s vowing to still flash his friendly smile — which is sorely needed inside a locker room that is currently filled with disappointment and frustration.

“Bring a better vibe,” Pinto said. “Just my smile, hopefully gets the boys going here and hopefully we can turn this around.”