As the NBA wrestles with what commissioner David Stern calls the worst crisis of his tenure, the Tim Donaghy mess in the summer of sports scandal, it's not gross misconduct to wonder: Can it happen in the NHL, too?

Of course it can … in theory.

Instead of gloating about the NBA's mess, and perhaps becoming overconfident because hockey is far less vulnerable to "fixing" or "shaving" issues than other sports, the NHL should react with heightened vigilance.

Among other things, the NHL must continue to try to get to the bottom of everything and everyone involved in the Rick Tocchet sports gambling ring to make sure it didn't affect the actual integrity of the NHL's own product.

The collective yawns and sighs of relief throughout the sport in the wake of Tocchet's guilty plea, and the lack of a trial or bombshell revelations, shouldn't allow the issue to die.

An NHL assistant coach and former star becoming a gambling-ring mogul? Folks in and connected with the league placing wagers with the ring? Granted, some of the wagering seemed to be done indirectly and as casually as if it was buying two squares in a Super Bowl quarter-by-quarter sheet, but that shouldn't change the bottom line.