The Globe and Mail’s James Mirtle is blowing the whistle on an elaborate table tennis ring within the Maple Leafs’ den of iniquity dressing room.
There was a big ping-pong battle just outside the dressing room on Monday as part of a fairly light-hearted day at the rink. Phil Kessel and [Dion] Phaneuf are the team’s top players, with others staying out of the games for now.
“I’m not really in the ping-pong right now,” [Joffrey] Lupul said. “I’m too far behind. Cost me too much money to play with these guys.”
It might seem harmless, but high-stakes pong is some serious business. Earlier this year, Las Vegas hosted the International Classic of Ping Pong, which featured a prize pool of $100,000.
Vegas, high stakes, competitive gaming, well-compensated pro athletes...you can see the slippery slope here. It won’t be long before Toronto’s room features two Pai Gow tables and a cigarette girl.