Pinto appeared on a podcast this week and explained in detail what led to his 41-game suspension.

Ottawa Senators centre Shane Pinto is pleased that his 41-game suspension for violating the league's gambling policy is long behind him. 

Pinto showed no ill effects either, putting up 27 points in the team's final 41 games last season. That's a 54-point pace, which was better than fellow centre Josh Norris (49-point pace) in his partial season (50 games).

At the time of the suspension, Pinto gave the perfect statement, pulled from page one of the NHL PR crisis handbook.

"I want to apologize to the National Hockey League, the Ottawa Senators, my teammates, the fans and city of Ottawa and most importantly my family. I take full responsibility for my actions and look forward to getting back on the ice with my team," Pinto said in the statement.

There were plenty of reports and rumours out there, but never a specific statement on what Pinto actually did. Until now. Appearing on an episode of the Empty Netters podcast this week, Pinto outlined things pretty clearly.

"I had my buddies, because I was in Canada, just place bets for me in America," Pinto said. "I wasn't a Canadian citizen, so I couldn't really use a Canadian sportsbook. So I just had my buddies place bets for me, and that's proxy betting. So, that's obviously a big no-no. 

"It was like an illegal act, so obviously, it was a pretty big deal. So, that's why we didn't want to fight it, and we just kind of accepted it. I did what I had to do and I took the penalty. And thank God, I played a good 41 games."

The NHL let the suspension speak for itself, but also softened the blow for Pinto, ensuring the public was aware that their investigation "found no evidence that Pinto made any wagers on NHL games."

"I think a lot of people (wrongly) thought I bet on the NHL because it was such a long (suspension). They said in their press release that it never happened, so I think that helped the situation a lot."

Pinto said the 41-game suspension hurt and the worst part about it was not being there for the boys.

"We had a tough start too. I'm not saying it was a big deal that I wasn't there, but still, it was a big distraction. 

"There was just a lot of distraction around the boys and I never wanted to be that toward the fellas. So, that's what that's what kind of sucked the most about it."

Pinto also had a humourous interjection when the hosts were talking about all the good things the Senators have going for them next season, including Brady Tkachuk being extra inspired after his brother Matthew just won a Stanley Cup.

"Ohhh, he's gonna be (expletive) on one!" Pinto laughed.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T76LHCUUSYc[/embed]