The gambler quotes. The NHL or the National Hockey League is a professional ice hockey league that is situated within the northern half of the Americas. The NHL is one of the foremost sports leagues within the United States of America and in Canada; therefore the assertion that the NHL could be fostering a hidden gambling problem is extremely serious.
Jagr has denied to have a gambling problem, but the debts he owed in the late 90s proved otherwise. Back in 2003, he admitted to having settled a $950,000 debt he had accrued between 1998 and 2002. Jaromir began to speak more publicly about his faith after his three-year stint in Russia (a historically Orthodox nation). Off-Ice Incidents Edit. Although Jaromir has repeatedly denied that he has a gambling problem, in 2003, he admitted that he settled debts totaling US$950,000 with two internet gambling sites between 1998 and 2002. 15 Jaromir Jagr Robert Mayer-USA TODAY Sports Let the story of Jaromir Jagr serve as a lesson to all pro athletes out there: When you stop paying on a line of credit borrowed from a gambling source, that source will likely happily go to the press to out you.
Sport Stars And a Gambling Problem
Gambling for many is an innocent hobby, something that can be done as a leisure activity with friends, however for athletes the temptation can become to great due to their huge sums of disposable income. The issues surrounding gambling with athletes becomes even greater when one considers the potential for the fixing of matches, or the possibility of illegal criminal activities exerting influence on sports. Hence, it is so important to identify athletes with gambling addictions; some famous examples include Wayne Rooney, Paul Hornung and Charles Barkley.
An example of a sport star that has been fighting with a gambling addiction in the world of NHL is Jaromir Jagr. The NHL star had the highest salary in the 1989 – 1990 season and achieved this feat again in the 2007 – 2008 season. Yet, he has previously battled a serious addiction to gambling and did eventually own up to having pay an approximate sum of $1 million to several online casino platforms due to unsettled debts.
Another member of the NHL who has had issues with online gambling in the past is Rick Tocchet. Rick Tocchet is currently the head coach of the Arizona Coyotes in the NHL and was previously played for several leading teams including the Los Angeles Kings, the Washington Capitals and the Philadelphia Flyers. Rick Tocchet did face some unpopular sentiment due to his involvement within an illicit gambling ring and his stint as a bookmaker. These dealings caused him to take an obligatory two-year period of exodus from the NHL, where only in 2008 was he once again welcomed as the coach of Tampa Bay Lightning. The authorities stated that an estimated $1 million moved through the underground gambling ring, in addition the ring include the wife of Wayne Gretzky – Janet Jones.
The scandalous act of the illicit gambling ring which Rick Tocchet was a part of, dominated the newsrooms of the world for quite a time, when in truth it is so easy to come into contact with perfectly legal online casinos today. For a list of completely legal online casinos click here! Another sports star in the NHL who went off the tracks at the casino tables is Evander Kane a forward for the San Jose Sharks who had legal proceedings opened against him by a Las Vegas casino after unsettled gambling debts.
Jaromir Jagr Gambling
However, the NHL has not steered away from the world of gambling, in fact the NHL has warmed to sports betting since it was legalized. Indeed, many stars of the hockey world including Don LaGreca have embraced gambling; Don LaGreca who is a personality on The Michael Kay Show includes gambling news as part of their segment.
Can Gambling Be Enjoyed Responsibly?
In recent academic studies, it has been shown that pro-athletes are more likely to be susceptible than gambling addiction than within the usual populace. However, the prevalence was far greater in men than in women, but there was no indication that those in team sports fared differently with gambling addictions to those participating in individual sports. Although, it must be noted that the aggregated increase for athletes was only 7% higher than for the normal population.
In truth the answer is more simple, online gambling can be enjoyed responsibly by people of all professions, however, prudential discretion should always be exercised and this is especially true for athletes. If you are looking for the best online casinos in New Zealand then click here and find a complete list. What are you waiting for?
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The Czech machine
Jaromir Jagr is a name which might be hard to pronounce, but still is on the lips of millions of ice hockey fans across the globe. Jaromir Jagr is a Czech machine, a man who has played ice hockey since the late 1980s, and shows no sign of giving up. Born in Czechoslovakia, he started to play ice hockey at the age of three. Already as a teenager, he was playing at the top level in his country, for the local team of HC Kladno. Since then, he has played for a number of clubs, mostly in the NHL, but also in the Czech Republic and in the Russian KHL. Known for his immense strength and willingness to battle until the very end, he is a powerful player that continues to show incredible skills until this very day. Being 44 years old, most players would consider retiring and putting their skates away, but not Jagr. He is still looking for opportunities, and never misses a game when his national team calls for his help. As soon as the Iron Curtain disappeared, he was drafted to Pittsburgh Penguins, where another legend already was being made – Mario Lemieux. Together, the duo managed to secure two successive Stanley Cup championships for the Pittsburgh ice hockey club. Actually, Jagr was the first Czech player to arrive in the NHL, and his teammates quickly discovered a funny detail about his name. If you rearranged the letters in his first name, Jaromir, it could be made to spell 'Mario Jr.'. It is widely believed that Mario Lemieux had a big impact on the playing style of Jaromir Jagr, and the Czech himself has called Lemieux a big influence.
Breaking records
Jaromir Jagr Girlfriend
After spending 11 years in Pittsburg, Jaromir Jagr went on to the Washington Capitals, after signing the biggest contract NHL had seen at the time. Washington would pay Jagr a whopping 11 million dollars per year, but Jaromir did not live up to the expectations set for him. Little did the Washington Capitals know that the Czech superstar was spending a big chunk of his money on gambling. Yes, behind the scene, Jaromir Jagr was an eager gambler who played online whenever he got the chance. Unfortunately, combined with an extreme sense of competitiveness and a pride that would never allow him to back down from a brawl, he accumulated a debt of almost one million dollars to various online companies. The biggest incident was surrounding a debt of half a million to just one company, where he agreed to make monthly payments in order to pay it off. After missing a couple of payments, the man behind the online gambling site leaked the information to the press, which made a hell of a stir-up in Jagr's career. We don´t know what types of casino games he played on. Maybe he should have registered on freespinsslots.com for a more beneficial offer and less risk. But of course this is a man that can afford a bit of volatility.
After only a few seasons at the Washington Capitals, he was traded over to the New York Rangers, where he spent another four years of his career. In 2008, there was speculations that Jagr would retire, but instead, he went to the KHL in order to play for Avangard Omsk in Siberia, Russia. Oh no, this Czech machine will probably play ice hockey all the way until his death, just like another teammate from Avangard who suddenly died in front of Jagr, while being only 19 years old. Tragic story, but ice hockey is not a soft sport.
Back in the USA
After three years in Russia, Jaromir Jagr went back to the NHL, but is having a hard time signing a long term deal. Because of his age, only one-year contracts are being made available for him, so he has been forced to change clubs quite often since 2011. He played briefly for Philadelphia Flyers, before going back to the Czech Republic in 2012, then coming back to the USA again in 2013 and signing with Dallas Stars, before being traded over to Boston Bruins. That same year, Jagr signed a one-year contract with the New Jersey Devils, and stayed until 2015 when he went over to the Florida Panthers instead. It certainly has been a turbulent few years for Jagr, the only consistent thing throughout his career was the strong desire to join the national team of Czech Republic whenever possible. He has won a gold medal at the Winter Olympics, two gold medals at the World Championships, and a gold medal at the European Champions Cup.
Jaromir Jagr is still playing, at age 44, and is the oldest player in NHL at the moment. He told the press back in 2014 that he would no longer play international games for his nation, but when they asked for his assistance during the 2015 World Championships, he could not resist the temptation and went to his motherland to play the competition in Prague and Ostrava. Czech Republic ended up in fourth place during this Championship, but Jaromir Jagr was named the Most Valuable Player of the tournament.
