Now the NHL has a black eye to go with its broken image.

Right when the league was in the midst of a Teddy Bruschi-esque comeback, the Feds called a penalty on former player and assistant coach Rick Tocchet – a felony of the 5 to 10 variety.

The NHL’s full-scale damage control plan was working. That is, until the New Jersey State Police pulled a sweater over the NHL’s eyes and landed a haymaker.

In Burlington County, N.J. the police unveiled a show-and-tell outline of the workings of a 4-month sting operation code-named Operation Slap Shot. They set up a big chart to illustrate how the money moved in this alleged gambling operation, which they said was tied to the mob.

At the top of the chart were two people connected with a line and the word “Partners” between them. The first was the now-suspended N.J. State Trooper James J. Harney. The second was Phoenix Coyotes assistant coach Rick Tocchet. Both face charges of promoting gambling, money laundering and conspiracy and are scheduled to be arraigned Feb. 21.

As a rule of thumb, when the government runs a sting operation with its own code-name, it’s not a good idea to be on the top of the list.

So now Tocchet can be added to the list of players who have disgraced their sport: “Shoeless” Joe and the 1919 Black Sox, Packers halfback Paul Hornung and Lions defensive tackle Alex Karras who bet on their own games in 1963, and Arizona State basketball players shaving points in college basketball. But the man Tocchet is being compared to most is Pete Rose, and gambling isn’t the only common thread between them.

Both guys were gritty, hard-nosed players. Rose was the most popular member of the Phillies during his five years with the best Phillies team ever.

Among Flyers fans, Tocchet is right up there with Bobby Clarke and the “Broad Street Bullies” in popularity. They both gave all they had to their respective sports, and in turn, the fans will stand by the two no matter what the allegations, no matter how low they go in their personal lives.

After the MLB announced on March 20, 1989 that it was investigating Rose’s involvement in betting on baseball, no one believed it. He was the “hit king” and the poster child for baseball in the early-80’s. How could he let himself bet on the sport that had given him his fortune?

The consensus among Rose’s supporters was that he illegally bet his pants off on other sports, but never on baseball. That is, until he admitted betting on baseball in a book he allowed to be written because he needed the money.

Now I have no idea if Rick Tocchet bet on hockey to profit on it as an assistant coach, but it’s not that large of a leap from bookmaker to bettor, especially when there are links to organized crime.

A bet here, a bet there, and you start to find yourself in a hole. Why not start betting on the sport where you have inside knowledge and an edge over the odds-makers?

But even if he wanted to, fixing a hockey game as a player isn’t nearly as easy as Rose sending a sure strikeout up to the plate in the bottom of the ninth. There’s just no way I could believe that a competitor like Tocchet could bet against his own team. Not as a player or as a coach.

Shades of Rose perhaps?

No matter how this plays out, nothing less than an official proclamation of “Oops” can erase the damage that’s been done.

In 2000, it was Marty McSorely’s doing a tee-ball impression with Donald Brashear’s head. In 2004, Todd Bertuzzi planted Steve Moore to the ice causing a grade-three concussion and fracturing three vertebrae in his neck. Moore hasn’t played since. Then there was that pesky season-scrubbing strike.

Now this?

Makes you wonder how much more of a beating the league can take before it’s down for the count.

Dan Berrigan is a senior in engineering and can be reached at [email protected].