When Wayne Gretzky's wife Janet Jones was accused of placing bets in a gambling ring

Wayne Gretzky is widely considered to be hockey's greatest player. He also served as a head coach and was part-owner of the Arizona Coyotes. However, his association with the NHL has not always been smooth.

Back in 2006, law enforcement officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said Gretzky's wife, actress Janet Jones, was among those implicated in a gambling ring.

According to an ESPN report, Rick Tocchet, a former NHL champion, was an assistant coach for the Phoenix Coyotes when it was discovered that he ran an illegal gambling ring in New Jersey. People immediately began to speculate whether Gretzky, who was the Coyotes' head coach at the time, was also involved in the ring.

Gretzky vehemently denied the allegations, but his wife Janet was found to have placed bets. Investigations were conducted to determine whether the greatest player of all time had placed bets through his wife, but no evidence was discovered.

Gretzky mentioned that his wife was in California and claimed the two conversed but made no mention of any involvement she may have had.

Here's what Gretzky said, as reported by ESPN:

"We didn't get into it other than she was concerned about Rick and she felt it was a tough situation with him, and she would sit down at some point and answer questions that everybody has for her and be her own person."

Gretzky replied, "Absolutely not," when asked if she had placed bets on him.

Tocchet was sentenced to two years' probation and ordered to close the ring. In 2008-09, he returned as the head coach of the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Wayne Gretzky's NHL achievements

From 1979 to 1999, Gretzky was a member of four different National Hockey League (NHL) teams. He was dubbed "The Great One" by many writers, players, news outlets, and the NHL itself. Gretzky is the all-time leading scorer, assist producer, and point scorer in NHL history. He has more assists than any other player in his career.

He is the only NHL player to have scored 200 or more four times in a single season. Furthermore, in 14 of his 16 professional seasons, Gretzky scored 100 points or more, 14 of which were consecutive. In 1999, he retired with 61 NHL records, including 40 regular season records, 15 playoff records, and six All-Star records.

Gretzky was born and raised in Brantford, Ontario, where he honed his skills in the backyard rink and regularly competed at a level far above his peers in minor hockey. Despite his unimpressive size and strength, Gretzky's intelligence, stamina, and game reading were unrivaled. He was adept at dodging opposing players' checks and was able to consistently anticipate where the puck would be and execute the correct move at the appropriate time.

Gretzky was the most recent player to have the waiting period waived when he was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame immediately after retiring in 1999. His number 99 jersey was retired by the NHL across the league, making him one of the only hockey players and one of only three players in professional sports history to be honored in such a way.