Colleagues come to Jeff Marek's defense after it's revealed why he was fired

Last week the hockey media world was rocked by the sudden departure of longtime Sportsnet employee Jeff Marek from the network.

Marek is a respected host, analyst and insider most known for co-hosting the wildly popular '32 Thoughts' podcast alongside co-host Elliotte Friedman.

But, following the 1st round of the NHL Entry Draft back in June, Marek went silent. His social media was shuttered, podcasts stopped updating and his daily radio show was nuked. A few days of wild speculation later and Marek confirmed online that he was in fact out of a job at Sportsnet.

Marek's confirmation of the news only led to more speculation amongst hockey fans online.

'What did he do?'

'Why would Sportsnet do this?'

All fans really had to work off of was a vague notion of 'Draft reasons' given by fellow insider Jonah Sigel of Daily Hive. In a cryptic post, Sigel reported that Marek was dismissed for 'Unconfirmed draft reasons'.

This led to even more questions like, well... 'WTF does that mean?'

Today, Katie Strang and Dan Robson published an article for The Athletic that reveals exactly what went down at the Draft and why Marek lost his job. And really... it all comes down to insider information.

In effect, Marek was accused by the NHL and the Nevada Gaming Control Board of feeding insider information regarding draft selections to outside parties. Put another way: He was tipping off his buddies.

From The Athletic:

Marek had come under scrutiny from the NHL during the first round of the draft for allegedly revealing to a friend which players teams were drafting moments before those picks were publicly announced, according to league and media industry sources. The NHL shared concerns about the situation with the Nevada Gaming Control Board, which probed further, according to multiple sources briefed on that investigation.

As part of Sportsnet’s crew that night, Marek was privy to the draft selections before they were publicly announced. This is common practice for broadcast rightsholders. The production truck is notified of the pick approximately one or two minutes before it’s made so that graphics can be prepared, video clips readied and cameras trained on the player about to find out he has been selected.

Also under the Sphere that evening working the draft was Mark Seidel, a former NHL scout with the Minnesota Wild who for the past five years worked in scouting and player personnel roles with the Ontario Hockey League’s Barrie Colts. He also runs his own scouting service, branded the North American Central Scouting Independent Bureau (not to be confused with the NHL’s Central Scouting Bureau) and has occasionally provided draft content for ESPN.

Seidel and Marek have known each other for years, according to two people with knowledge of their relationship. Seidel has made multiple appearances on podcasts with Marek, including to talk about prospects in advance of the annual draft.

In Las Vegas, Seidel correctly predicted several picks on X, which prompted concerns that Marek had informed Seidel who those teams were picking.

League and media sources said that Marek gave Seidel a heads up on the picks so that Seidel could better prepare and offer analysis of those selections on social media. Professional sports leagues are known to monitor social media during live events such as drafts; it is also common for leagues to partner with external integrity and compliance firms to monitor social media activity.

When contacted by The Athletic, Seidel declined to answer questions on the situation, including why he deleted a number of social media posts he made on the night of the draft.

The NHL and Sportsnet both declined to comment on the matter. Marek did not respond to requests for comment.

- Katie Strang and Dan Robson

So there you have it.

Marek was feeding insider info to a buddy who in turn was using that info to make himself appear to be more knowledgable than he really is. That knowledge was used to prop up his private business and, presumably, give him an advantage over other businesses. The NHL didn't like that and they reported Marek and his buddy to the Nevada Gaming Control Board, who conducted an investigation which, presumably, raised red flags for Marek's employer Sportsnet.

The rest, as they say, is history.

The reaction from around the hockey media world has been decidedly mixed, but some of Marek's former colleagues are coming out in support of him, saying that Sportsnet acted too harshly.

From former Sportsnet employee Sean McIndoe (Down Goes Brown):

I'm not sure I agree, but McIndoe's sentiment is shared by a lot of other folks in the hockey media world.

Check it out:

I've got to say... I don't see how what Marek did is any different from what other insiders like Elliotte Friedman and Frank Seravalli do all day long. Hell, Seravalli essentially spoiled the entire Seattle Kraken Expansion Draft by leaking picks out to the public on the day of the Draft. He didn't suffer any penalty and presumably he profited in some way by leaking the info, at least in terms of increasing social media clout and his authority as an insider, if not financially. From that perspective, maybe Sportsnet overreacted a bit here?

If nothing else, this should serve as an example to all hockey media personnel just how big of an impact the sports betting world is having on our sport now. You don't want to anger The Gambling Gods... 

It'll be interesting to see how Marek addresses these allegations and how it affects his career moving forward. It's worth noting that he has not commented on these allegations, to date.