Sticks Down, Wallets Up - ECHL Hockey Hits the Brakes

 

I am sure many of you have spent the last two days reading everything you can find about the strike that has ground the ECHL to a halt. It is challenging to distinguish fact from fiction and opinion, and I certainly don't have the answers. I am not sure where to start, so this information may be rambling, but here goes.

 

- In my opinion, the reason both sides are at a stalemate in reaching an agreement on a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA) is that the owners have decided their best and final offer is just that, and the financial viability of some teams in the league is at risk. The PHPA, representing the players, feels just as strongly that the owners' offer is not enough. That difference of opinion is what has led to this strike. 

 

- Here is the latest public statement from the ECHL on the negotiations: https://echl.com/CBA 

- Here is the public statement from the PHPA on negotiations: https://phpa.com/news/3215   

  

- In addition to working on the agreement for a new CBA, the ECHL teams are in the process of putting together teams to continue playing. From what I understand, these teams could be a combination of NHL/AHL contracted players assigned to the ECHL, and replacement players from Europe, SPHL, FPHL or free agents. The unknown factor is how many, if any, players from current rosters will decide to continue playing. 

Here are more details from my ECHL Stats post today: The ECHL intends to play as many scheduled games as possible during this players’ strike. If two scheduled teams can roster enough players (minimum 13 skaters & 2 goalies), games will be played as scheduled. If not, games will be postponed. Based on this approach, you can expect most, if not all, games scheduled today will be postponed. ECHL coaches/general managers are scrambling to sign enough replacement players to supplement rostered players who choose to play, to avoid postponing games. There are 69 games on the ECHL schedule over the next eight days.

According to the ECHL website, all 15 scheduled games today have been postponed.

 

- One question I have seen asked several times, but can't find an answer to, is whether the players have voted on the latest offer from the ECHL. I know the players voted a while back to give the PHPA the right to call a strike. That is a different question than whether the players have voted on the "last and final" offer from the owners. 

 

- Another topic of conversation that I see discussed concerning the striking players is vacating their housing. What I have heard (not confirmed) is that all striking players received a letter telling them they must vacate their housing. However, this is complicated because state laws vary significantly in how quickly striking employees can be removed from company housing. It can be as few as three days in low-protection states, to as high as months in high-protection states. As you might expect, Texas falls into the low-protection category.

 

- Coach Martinson has been busy during the Christmas break talking to players about coming to Allen. He will sign some players who will be on the roster after the strike is over, and others who will compete for jobs after the strike is over. He will also get some help from all his contacts in the FPHL and some fill-in local players if necessary. Martinson has a tough task as he does not have the base of NHL/AHL contracted players that many other teams have. Allen is scheduled to play Tulsa at home on New Year's Eve, and Martinson expects to field a team for that game. Martinson also expects Tulsa will be able to field a team on Wednesday, so the NYE game should be played. 

 

- Obviously, the best-case scenario is that the ECHL and PHPA come to an agreement today or tomorrow, and all of this contingency planning is unnecessary. It doesn't mean there won't be some residual effects from the strike. I will take the optimistic view that somehow and someway a deal gets done. The fans and all the businesses/employees that rely on ECHL games deserve that outcome.                     

 

 

DID YOU KNOW: This is technically not the first strike in the history of the ECHL. In the summer of 1994, the players' association went on strike over wages and benefits. The strike was resolved when the ECHL and its players reached an agreement on a new CBA in September, just before the new season was about to begin.