By: trent

trent — Mon, 27 Oct 2014 20:22:30 +0000

Look to the NCAA and their program for student athletes. They have billion dollar tv contracts and hundreds of millions in revenue for licensed apparel etc. Yet they continue to avoid any sort of payment to student athletes including something as pointless as a bagel with peanut butter on it. This lawsuit will destroy the CHL and thus grassroots hockey in Canada. Thank goodness for unions and all their creative endeavors they bring to humanity (sarcasm if you can’t figure it out).

By: Mike

Mike — Mon, 27 Oct 2014 19:17:19 +0000

If there is disparity between the teams with respect to profitability, then perhaps they should look to revenue sharing amongst themselves. I don’t think crying “we can’t afford it” is much of an excuse for teams compensating the players so minimally.

By: Scott Wheeler

Scott Wheeler — Mon, 27 Oct 2014 17:39:23 +0000

Thanks for your response, Chris. It’s important to hear from players, past and present on issues that could or have affected them.

While there are a few extremely profitable CHL teams, many (especially in the QMJHL) struggle with revenues. If successful, the lawsuit may create financial concerns for a number of teams. It seems, however, as you suppose, that an increase in the weekly allowance may be in the cards moving forward.

By: Chris MacKinnon

Chris MacKinnon — Mon, 27 Oct 2014 15:12:56 +0000

As a former OHL player I felt compelled to write an open letter addressing the current lawsuit the OHL is facing. As a preface to my arguments and opinions I would like to say that I just finished up a 4 year Commerce Degree, debt free, as a result of using my OHL school package. I am grateful for this based on the fact that many of my peers are going to be paying off student debt till they are 50. The OHL has an outstanding scholarship program.
The honest truth is that I find it humorous that a player who played 8 games in the league has decided to sue the league for 180 million dollars. Even if the court sided with him for the “Lost wages” I would not collect mine.
On the flip side I do believe that amendments do need to be made by Mr. Branch to bring the league into the 21st century. For at least 3 decades I have not seen a rise in the $50 weekly pay for CHL players. The pay has not been adjusted for inflation.
For those of you who do not understand what inflation entails, I will provide an easy example to understand. When I was a in 2nd grade (1996), I would pass a vending machine and say “HECK!!! 50 cents for a bag of Doritos”. In 2014 they cost $1.50 for the 9 chips that are in the bag. $50 dollars today does not buy what 50 dollars did back then. So why has the weekly pay remained stagnant over this time?
Do I believe that every player should be receiving minimum wage each week? No. That is not a financial viable option for the league. While some people argue that teams are making millions of dollars the fact is that many teams are struggling to make a profit.
My suggestion for the CHL league is to increase the pay by $100 per week. This would add a labour expense per team of $3600 per player (36 weeks), times 25 players, which equals a $90,000 labour expense increase. Some people may argue that this is not possible with the already tight budget that pays for billet families, equipment, hotel, travel ETC.
Once again there is a way to subsidize this payment increase. This could come from an increase in the Royalty that each club gets when a player is signed in the NHL and is technically purchased. I am not entirely certain how all of those finances work, but if an NHL club can afford to pay Scott Gomez 3.5 million per goal, they sure as hell can afford to bridge the gap to make an idea like this viable.
Now some of you may be wondering what a 16 year old Kid would need $150 dollars a week for if he has no expenses. Well the honest truth is that most kids have to call mom and dad, or get money from Grandma after the game to afford to go the weekly Team Sushi and Movie Night.
The extra $100 would allow the young men to be a little bit more financial independent and could also be used as a teaching method about savings. I would love to see a system in place where a player gets $100 a week in spending cash and the remaining $50 is automatically put into a 4 year GIC, where the player cannot touch it until his time in the OHL is done.
This would serve not only as future cash flow, but it would be a great lesson for the young men. It will show them how money can accrue when you have a savings plan. Our generation is really struggling with the issue of living beyond our financial means and creating an almost insurmountable amount of debt. This structure would serve as a great teaching point about how important saving is to prepare the higher majority of players that do not make the NHL to have a game plan for the future.
Now that I got this off my chest, I can go back to applying for jobs and sending off resumes that no one will even look at because of lack of work related experience. Another issue for the Student Athlete…. I would love to hear your opinions about this proposition.

Chris MacKinnon

Comments on: Class action lawsuit filed against CHL leaves players split

By: trent

By: Mike

By: Scott Wheeler

By: Chris MacKinnon