Tkachuk Denies He Bet on NFL Games

Phoenix Coyote captain Keith Tkachuk has denied allegations he gambled on NFL games while playing with the Winnipeg Jets, and his attorneys will try next week to overturn a related civil judgment in a Canadian court.

Attorneys for the 25-year-old forward would go to court to try to get a $200,000 judgment against Tkachuk tossed out, the Edmonton Journal reported.

Raj Sabharwal of Edmonton, who obtained the default judgment March 27 when Tkachuk failed to respond to a lawsuit, alleged that Tkachuk used information from him to place bets illegally on NFL games through a bookmaker in Boston. The betting allegedly occurred between October 1995 and January 1996.

“Absolutely meritless allegations,” Coyote General Manager Bobby Smith said. “They will be exposed as such.”

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The Boston Bruins are suing three insurance companies for allegedly failing to pay benefits to the team for retired star Cam Neely, whose career was ended by a hip injury, the Boston Globe reported.

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Pittsburgh all-star right wing Jaromir Jagr, who sat out the Penguins’ game Friday against Florida after aggravating a groin injury in Thursday’s loss to Tampa Bay, will sit out the regular-season finale Sunday against Boston.