Posted on: August 2, 2024, 07:28h.
Last updated on: August 2, 2024, 07:29h.
An NHL insider information scandal was behind the mysterious disappearance of a veteran Canadian NHL analyst from the airwaves, The Athletic has discovered.
Jeff Marek is a familiar face to Canadian hockey fans, but he has been conspicuously absent from sports channel Sportsnet’s broadcasts since he was sent to cover the 2024 NHL Draft at the Las Vegas Sphere in June.
Marek was quietly fired by Sportsnet in July with two years remaining on his contract. That was after he was found to have leaked information about team picks to his friend, Mark Seidel, according to The Athletic.
As a Sportsnet interviewer, Marek was party to information about selections around two minutes before they were officially announced. Some of this information was passed on to Seidel, a former NHL scout, who then tweeted about the picks moments before the announcement, The Athletic alleges.
NGCB Probe
The NHL reported the incident to the Nevada Gaming Control Board (NGCB), which launched an investigation, according to sources who spoke to The Athletic.
The NGCB has said it’s not its policy to comment about “whether it is or isn’t investigating particular persons or entities.”
There is no evidence at this stage that the information was shared for the purposes of betting or that Marek profited in any way from the incident.
Athletic sources who asked to remain anonymous have said that Marek did not gamble and was uncomfortable with promoting sports betting on air. The TV personality passed the information on to Seidel purely so he could offer analysis of the picks on social media, the sources claimed.
Seidel has shown an uncanny knack for predicting draft picks over the past few years and occasionally frames his tweets – possibly inadvertently — as sports betting advice.
During the 2022 draft for example, he tweeted, “Philadelphia and Cutter Gauthier were made for each other … I’d lay money on him,” moments before Gauthier and Philadelphia became a reality.
Radio Silence
Marek’s sudden absence from Sportsnet broadcasts did not go unnoticed, nor did his disengagement from social media. Marek has 244.6K followers on X.
Eventually, on July 26, he posted the following tweet.
“After 13 great years at Sportsnet, I’m moving on,” he wrote. “It’s been an incredible journey and I’m thankful to have worked alongside so many great people and played a role in bringing sports and hockey news to fans across Canada and the world. More to come soon.”
