Shane Pinto shares the details of what he did to get his 41-game suspension

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Daniel Lucente
July 17, 2024 (8:24 PM)

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Ottawa Senators forward Shane Pinto has revealed the exact reason as to why he got his 41-game suspension last season when he was accused of illegal gambling.

Shane Pinto was caught engaging in illegal betting last year and had to miss half the season via suspension. At the time, Pinto was reluctant to admit he did anything wrong, blaming someone else for using his account unknowingly. That all changed today, when Pinto finally revealed the truth.

"I had my buddies - because I was in Canada - just place bets for me in America," he explained during a recent appearance on the "Empty Netters" podcast. "I wasn't a Canadian citizen so I couldn't really use a Canadian sportsbook. ... That's proxy betting, so that's obviously a big no-no. It was an illegal act so, obviously, it was a pretty big deal. So that's why we didn't want to fight (the suspension) and we just kinda accepted it."

Pinto said he worked hard at getting into shape while serving his suspension and relied on his family and friends during that difficult time. When he finally returned to game action, the 23-year-old did quite well, putting up 27 points in 41 games. Considering he hadn't played in almost a year, and combined with the fact that the Sens were not a good team, fans were happy with that.

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The #Sens have agreed to terms on a two-year contract with forward Shane Pinto.

The Senators recently signed Pinto to a two-year contract extension, and are hoping that he will be able to help them make the playoffs for the first time since 2017, now that his betting days are behind him.

Credit:
https://x.com/HFTVSports/status/1813663989852778772?