Rick Tocchet has spent the last two years manning up for his part in an illegal gambling ring in front of NHL officials and the courts, so it's no surprise he did the same this week when facing the media for the first time since his ordeal began.

It's now considered a necessary step toward full redemption for those in the public eye to offer a mea culpa, and Tocchet got his chance with his a full press conference to announce his return to the Phoenix Coyotes as an assistant coach. And he breezed through the televised meeting with local media mainly because the questions lobbed at him were softballs, and his return to the Coyotes didn't come anywhere close to comparing to Shaquille O'Neal joining the Suns.

Tocchet didn't try to sidestep anything though, he just didn't get the kind of pointed queries he did the night before from Nick Kypreos of the Canadian Sportsnet network. In that interview, Kypreos brought up some uncomfortable subjects, including the speculation that bets were made on hockey. Tocchet didn't flinch, expressing his contrition in a matter-of-fact tone but insisting that the gambling he did was always on the NFL.

"I'm glad the facts came out because I would never, ever jeopardize the integrity of the game," he said. "I've been involved in hockey for 25 years, I never even thought of doing that, so that's it on that. Never."

Tocchet also admitted he was wrong to play in a legal Las Vegas poker tournament while still under investigation by the league but said he didn't really connect the two situations at the time.

"I thought (the investigation) was over, I knew the way it was headed," Tocchet said. "It was a legal poker tournament and I didn't think the backlash was going to happen. It was poor judgment and I paid a heavy price.

"But I learned a lesson and now it's time to move on."

The big sports story of the day is about Shaq moving on, and I was wondering if that's making Toronto captain Mats Sundin think harder about doing the same.

It's a perfect time really because the Maple Leafs are close to rock bottom after an embarrassingly ugly in an 8-0 loss Tuesday night. Toronto was at home too, against a Florida Panthers team that gets little respect in mainstream hockey markets, and for anyone who thought there was a sliver of hope for the Leafs this season, it was likely the final straw.

So the question of whether Sundin will waive his no-trade clause is intensifying now in Toronto, because the perception there is that he would be the most desirable commodity out there. Maybe, but either Panthers coach and GM Jacques Martin doesn't agree, or he figured that dropping a few suggestive hints about Olli Jokinen's future might be a good thing in front of the Toronto media.

"I think there is a major difference between Jokinen and Sundin because of age," Martin told reporters. "They are both great players. But one is in his prime (Jokinen, 29) while the other one (Sundin, 36) is getting near the end of his career."

Now every coach is supposed to hype their own guy, but what you should know is that there has been a fair amount of friction between Martin and Jokinen over the past month and even more rumors than usual about a trade involving the Florida captain because of it.

Jokinen's name has been out there around the deadline for several years, but he has a couple of more seasons left on a contract that pays him more than $5 million a season and he has always said he wants to win in Florida. And he is Florida's best player and leading scorer.

But Martin, in his second full season doing both jobs and his third as coach, is under a lot of pressure to end Florida's long playoff drought, and the Panthers have a real shot at winning the weak Southeast Division title. They haven't been able to develop any real consistency with the lineup they have, though, and lately, Florida's offense has been sparked mainly by the line of Stephen Weiss, Nathan Horton and David Booth.

Jokinen is a valuable commodity, and this might be time for Martin to do something bold.