It’s that time of the month when we take a look at what’s been happening in hockey’s business and legal world. Twice a month we cover the big and not so big stories in this arena. We also include a featured story of the period. Let’s take a look at what has been happening this period.
Hockey’s Business and Legal News
The BCHL Will Operate as an Independent League
The British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL) announced that its Board of Governors voted to move forward as an independent league and cut its ties with Hockey Canada. This will take effect on June 1, 2023. The BCHL operates as a Junior A hockey league in Canada. Unlike Major Junior hockey leagues in Canada, the BCHL operates like the USHL in that its players maintain their eligibility to play NCAA hockey. The Board decided that operating independently from Hockey Canada would provide its players with a higher quality of hockey and more opportunities to go the NCAA hockey route.
One big restriction under Hockey Canada the BCHL has faced is if U18 players from Canada decide to play Junior A, they are forced to play in their province of residence. Otherwise, they have to leave for the USHL or NAHL. Among other aspects, operating independently will allow for a greater pool of talent for the BCHL.
The BCHL Board of Governors has voted in favour of becoming an independent league, beginning an exciting new era as of June 1, 2023.
— BCHL (@BCHockeyLeague) May 1, 2023
RELEASE: https://t.co/XfJsfD3FDx pic.twitter.com/4mlr57PiTf
The OHL Slaps Sanctions on the Niagra IceDogs
Following the results of an independent third party investigation, the OHL announced that it has issued sanctions against the Niagra IceDogs for violating league policies including the Maltreatment, Bullying and Harassment Protection and Prevention Policy and the OHL’s Code of Conduct. Specifically, the report found that IceDog players Joshua Rosenzweig and Landon Cato participated in significant violations of the Player Maltreatment Policy and violated the OHL Code of Conduct including Physical Maltreatment and Aiding and Abetting respectively. Additionally, team Governor, Owner and General Manager Darren DeDobbelaer violated the league’s direction to maintain the confidentiality of the investigation.
The sanctions include: (1) a $100,000 fine against Niagra; (2) Niagra’s forfeiture of their first round pick in the 2024 OHL Priority Selection draft; (3) suspending DeDobbelaer from acting as team General Manager for two seasons to June 1, 2025; and (4) prohibiting Rosenzweig and Cato from participating in the OHL any further. While these sanctions seem pretty steep, the CHL has had no choice but to be more strict on addressing bullying and harrassment following lawsuits against the league.
The OHL has announced sanctions against the Niagara IceDogs Hockey Club resulting from breaches of the League's Maltreatment, Bullying and Harassment Protection and Prevention Policy as well as the OHL Code of Conduct.
— Ontario Hockey League (@OHLHockey) May 4, 2023
Škoda Will Remain the Main Sponsor of the IIHF World Championships for Five Years
Czech automobile company Škoda and the IIHF have extended their agreement for Škoda to be the official main sponsor of the IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship for another five years. This agreement will last until 2027. Škoda is a wholly owned subsidiary of Volkswagen and has been the official main sponsor of the tournament since 1993. Hockey fans can expect to see cars behind the glass in the corners for a few more years.
Škoda has announced a five-year extension of its long-standing role as ‘Official Main Sponsor’ of the IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship for the next five years, from 2023 to 2027. https://t.co/r3KiHuCkV4
— SportBusiness (@SportBusiness) May 5, 2023
The Chicago Blackhawks and Kyle Beach Reach a Settlement
The Chicago Blackhawks reached a settlement agreement with Kyle Beach following a mediation between the two sides. Beach filed a lawsuit against the Blackhawks involving an alleged sexual assault by the Blackhawks video coach at the time Beach played for the team. After an investigation into the merits of the claim showed the team mishandled the situation at the time of the alleged incident, the NHL fined the Blackhawks two million dollars. Many executives who were with the Blackhawks at the time also faced various punishments. Notably, the Blackhawks recently won the first overall pick in the 2023 NHL Draft as they did not lose draft picks as part of the punishment. This is a serious situation in a string of revelations that are bringing more of these unfortunate incidents to light.
This ESPN report has more details about what Kyle Beach went through than can fit into a tweet:https://t.co/LK9ndWBhl6
— Ryan Pike (@RyanNPike) May 7, 2023
Vancouver Canucks Fined by the NHL
The NHL fined the Vancouver Canucks $50,000 for holding on-ice training sessions with players after the end of the regular season. These actions violate Article 15 of the CBA related to offseason training rules. Specifically, in Section 15.10 of the CBA an NHL team may only hold one offseason training session. However, such session is limited to drafted but unsigned players, players on entry level deals with limited NHL experience, and other similar inexperienced players. Vancouver forwards Dakota Joshua and Jack Studnicka were among six players to take part in the on-ice training sessions with team development coaches Henrik and Daniel Sedin.
Sources say the #Canucks have been fined $50k by the #NHL for violating offseason training rules for players.@DailyFaceoff
— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) May 8, 2023
The AHL’s Chicago Wolves May Be Going on their Own
The AHL’s Chicago Wolves announced that for the 2023-24 season they are going to operate as an independent organization without any NHL affiliation. The Wolves were in the last year of a three-year affiliation agreement with the Carolina Hurricanes. While much of this is still up in the air and AHL board approval will be required, it is not impossible for an AHL team to go independent. Many times, the NHL team wants to develop prospects in the AHL while the AHL team wants to sign more veteran players to lead to higher winning success. This is not as much of an issue if the NHL organization also owns the AHL team. But if they are separately owned, as is the case here, this tension arises fairly frequently. The rules dictating how NHL and AHL teams interact are fairly complex. Check out an explanation here.
The Wolves' affiliation agreement with Carolina ends after this 2022-23 season.
— Tony Androckitis* (@TonyAndrock) May 9, 2023
The NHL, initially unaware until after the email to agents, has stepped in & – along with AHL President/CEO Scott Howson – are mediating & attempting to find a solution there https://t.co/z2CSqROyZ3
The NHLPA has Questions about Hockey Canada’s New Advanced Player Screening
Hockey Canada previously announced new screening measures for players seeking to participate in international events including the World Junior Championship and the IIHF World Championship. The NHLPA recently expressed concerns over some wording in Hockey Canada’s screening. In particular, Hockey Canada asks players to divulge “anything that could negatively impact Hockey Canada’s reputation.” In a memo the NHLPA stated that these measures were vague and hard to understand. When asked for further clarification, Hockey Canada did not provide the NHLPA anything useful. All of this comes in the wake of the various scandals affecting Hockey Canada. Stay tuned to see if Hockey Canada adjusts or provides clarifications on these measures.
Hockey Canada has implemented enhanced player screening that includes the disclosure of "anything that could negatively impact Hockey Canada’s reputation."
— Hailey Salvian (@hailey_salvian) May 12, 2023
The NHLPA has concerns about the vague nature of that, according to a memo acquired by @TheAthletic https://t.co/B7fEcsBP9R
More and Less Potential Owners of the Ottawa Senators
Our featured story of the period for hockey’s business and legal updates involves further updates on the potential sale of the Ottawa Senators. Last period we discussed that Ryan Reynolds had joined a group to purchase the team. However, that group announced that they will not be making a bid to purchase the team. This doesn’t mean that Reynolds cannot join another group for the purchase. But for now, he is out.
Ryan Reynolds will not be part of the new ownership of the Ottawa Senators.
— TSN Hockey (@TSNHockey) May 11, 2023
His bid, as part of the Remington Group, will not be moving forward (via @emilymkaplan, @SunGarrioch). https://t.co/GQmy93pyhz
Meanwhile, other notable names have joined the mix as potential purchasers. One includes Snoop Dog joining with a group led by entrepreneur Neko Sparks. Snoop Dog reportedly has big ideas if granted ownership and wants to show the game to a more diverse audience.
Hip hop artist Snoop Dogg is part of a bid for the Ottawa Senators and has reportedly aligned with the group led by Los Angeles-based entrepreneur Neko Sparks, according to @ian_mendes of @TheAthleticNHL: https://t.co/no6fR2MP1F
— TSN Hockey (@TSNHockey) May 1, 2023
Canadien entertainer The Weeknd is also joining Jeffrey and Michael Kimel of the Harlo Capital Group to make a potential bid. The supposed price tag for the Senators purchase is one billion dollars. After the buzz around Reynolds, these purchasing groups with deep pockets seem to be rounding up high profile figures as faces. With a May 15 deadline for bids, expect to see more news coming soon.
The Weeknd latest superstar to join bid for the Ottawa Senators https://t.co/VvwfIv3XFB #Sens
— Bruce Garrioch (@SunGarrioch) May 6, 2023
Post image attribution: By ceedub13, CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
