Hi, this is Fred Wallace with ” Off the Wire “.
It seems the Canadian Hockey League is a lightening rod for class action suits from those whose experiences in the CHL weren’t perfect or good.
Last week, a proposed class-action lawsuit fronted by former Western Hockey League player Kobe Mohr alleged various leagues, including the Ontario Hockey League, conspire to limit opportunities for young players to make a living playing pro hockey between the ages of 18 and 20.
The major contention in the document is that Junior players spend years playing for ….” nominal sums of money, all to the financial advantage of the defendants.”
We’ll talk a little bit more about that tomorrow.
The suit points to Europe and Russia as areas where professional clubs sign young players to contracts and then assign them to junior or reserve teams, therefore the players are paid as pros while under age 20
Furthermore the document relates, European-based players have the opportunity to play pro in North America before reaching the age of 20 and be paid as professionals
Moritz Seider from Germany, drafted by the Owen Sound in the CHL Import Draft, would be one of countless examples of this claim
And finally, the suit states the National Hockey League and their teams pay bonuses to major junior clubs when their players are drafted, which is true; the higher a player is drafted by an NHL team, Storr, Primeau, Ryan, Hishon, Suzuki etc, the better financially it is for the Junior operation.
The lawsuit believes this creates an unlawful arrangement between the defendants.
Tomorrow, we’ll look at this a little more.
I’m Fred Wallace