hockey's business and legal

Hockey’s Business and Legal Updates January 29 Through February 4 Including Olympic Return

Alec Roberson

It’s that time again when we take a look at what’s been happening in hockey’s business and legal world. Once a week 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

Four Players Officially Charged in 2018 WJC Sexual Assault Scandal

Following last week’s major revelations that the London, Ontario police were requesting five members of Canada’s 2018 WJC team to turn themselves in related to sexual assault charges stemming from the time of that WJC, the names have officially been released. After and slightly before this call from the London police, Dillon Dube of the Calgary Flames, Cal Foote and Michael McLeod of the New Jersey Devils, Carter Hart of the Philadelphia Flyers and Alex Formenton formerly of the Ottawa Senators who was playing in Switzerland all took leaves of abscenses from their respective teams. The speculation was that these leaves were related to the pending charges.

After Formenton turned himself in last week, the other four have been confirmed as the remaining individuals to be charged. All have stepped forward through their attorneys to state that they are innocent but the decision now is left up to the court system. It’s going to be a long and windy process but one that hopefully ends in the truth coming to light for all involved. Keep in mind that that these individuals are in fact innocent until proven guilty and at this point the charges are pending. The London police will provide an update Monday, February 5 on the situation.

Mississauga Steelheads Officially Announce Move to Brampton

As we discussed in last week’s hockey’s business and legal updates, the Mississauga Steelheads of the OHL filed for new trademarks. This combined with issues with its expiring lease led to the belief the team would be moving. The Steelheads have in fact confirmed that to be the case. The new team in Brampton is planning to begin play in the 2024-25 season.

Sports Illustrated Fires Many and Union Files Unfair Labor Practice Claim

While not specific to hockey, Sports Illustrated recently announced that it had laid off a large number of staff, including writers, following Sports Illustrated owner Authentic Brands Group’s (ABG) revocation of Arena Group’s license to operate and publish SI after Arena missed a $3.75 million quarterly payment. Following this action, NewsGuild of New York, Local 31003 of the Communications Workers of America, filed charges on behalf of the Sports Illustrated Union with the National Labor Relations Board. The charges allege that Arena violated Section 8(a)(3) of the National Labor Relations Act. This Section of the NLRA makes it illegal for management to discriminate against employees who partake in union activity or lead organizing efforts. This process may take some time, but this is a big story affecting sports, including hockey, writers while also showing some of the intricacies of labor law.

Washington Capitals Extend Affiliation with Hershey Bears

The Washington Capitals announced that they have extended their affiliation with the Hershey Bears of the AHL for six years until 2030. The two teams have had a great relationship for many years, and this keeps it going. As we provided in detail in an article on the NHL/AHL relationship here, typically NHL teams either also own an AHL team or they enter into affiliation agreements with independent teams. The latter is the relationship between Washington and Hershey.

SOO Greyhounds Remove Banner for John Vanbiesbrouck

The SOO Greyhounds of the OHL have removed a banner for previous head coach John Vanbiesbrouck. He resigned from the team in 2003 after admitted to making a racist slur toward future NHL player Trevor Daley. The Hockey Diversity Alliance and Trevor Daley both responded to this move.

Forsyth County, Georgia Moving Towards Possible NHL Expansion

In last week’s hockey’s business and legal updates, we discussed Salt Lake City, Utah as a potential city for NHL expansion. This week it was announced that Forsyth County, Georgia was on the verge of giving the go-ahead for the Arena Project which will be a big step towards potentially getting an NHL team. This proposed development would provide an NHL size arena with a surrounding mixed-use development in the county.

Forsyth County leaders agreed on a nonbinding memorandum of understanding with the development team working on this project named “The Gathering at South Forsyth.” The county would provide a nearly $400 million subsidy for the project on the condition that an NHL team was granted to the area. It takes a process to get a new team (as we discussed previously here). But with 32 teams currently, if Salt Lake City gets one, Forsyth County could balance the league on the East. Keep an eye on this one.

New Antitrust Lawsuit Against NCAA Could Open NIL in Recruitment

The attorney generals from Tennessee and Virginia filed a lawsuit against the NCAA in federal district court in Tennessee alleging that the NCAA’s restrictions on NIL in recruitment violate antitrust laws. Specifically, this lawsuit comes after the University of Tennessee is subject to a series of investigations by the NCAA related to this issue. While the NCAA allows NIL opportunities, it does not allow NIL in recruitment activities. The attorney generals allege this violates antitrust laws as it restricts recruits’ abilities to see and compare their opportunities in NIL. While NCAA hockey is not as big in the NIL world as football or basketball, it is inevitably on that path. We previously took a look at NIL considerations for NCAA hockey players here.

Saroya Tinker Joins PWHL

The PWHL announced that Saroya Tinker has been named Manager, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Initiatives & Community Engagement for the PWHL. As a previous professional hockey player, Tink joins the group as the current Executive Director of Black Girl Hockey Club Canada.

BCHL Officially Welcome Five AJHL Teams to League and Issue FAQs

In last week’s hockey’s business and legal updates we discussed that five AJHL teams would be moving to the BCHL to begin play next season. The BCHL officially announced this inclusion this week. In response to the move, the BCHL issued a series of FAQs to provide information on the move.

The NHL Responds to New 2018 WJC Sexual Abuse Charges

As we discussed in last week’s hockey’s business and legal updates and mentioned herein, the London, Ontario’s charges against five members of the 2018 Canadian World Junior Championship team has caused shockwaves throughout the hockey world and beyond. With many people chimining in on the situtation, the NHL has responded. League commissioner Gary Bettman provided first that there did not seem to be any need to terminate these players’ contracts (4 of the 5 are under NHL contracts). Typically, to terminate a contract you need to have specific reasons generally amounting to a material breach of contract. But here, all of those players’ contracts are expiring after this season and they are currently away from their teams. Additionally, they have already received most of their pay for the year.

In addition, Bettman confirmed that the NHL had completed its investigation into the 2018 WJC matter but would not release those findings until the court process has run its course. Interestingly, Bettman also provided that these actions were not typical of NHL players. In light of everything going on right now including the Chicago Blackhawks issues with sexual abuse, this seems like at best a statement falling on deaf ears. But we will see how this situation unfolds in the near future.

NHL and NHLPA Announce Four Nations Tournament

The NHL and NHLPA announced that there will be an international tournament in February 2025 amongst NHL players from the United States, Canada, Sweden and Finland. The NHL CBA provides that the NHL and NHLPA will work together towards international play but leaves it fairly open to what that looks like specifically. This means the two sides have negotiate these tournaments, which is the case here.

The tournament will consist of a total of seven games played over a nine-day period from February 12 to 20, along with two designated training/practice days. It will be in two cities, one in Canada and one in the United States. The NHL will not have an All-Star Game in 2025. While the tournament itself seems a little limited and won’t feature other notable countries like Russia and Czechia, it is a step forward towards another World Cup of Hockey.

NHLPA Director Critical of Arizona Coyotes

In a recent update, NHLPA Director Marty Walsh announced his frustration with the Arizona Coyotes. Specifically, he provided that they have missed deadlines related to work on a new arena. The Coyotes currently play at a college arena they share with Arizona State University. Additionally, Walsh stated that the Coyotes ownership and leadership have been unwilling to meet with players to discuss their concerns with the arena. This is not technically an area that the owners HAVE to negotiate under labor laws, but it still doesn’t look good for the Coyotes organization in the hockey world. Sometimes even if you are legally right, it might not mean it’s the best for business.

Corey Perry has Pending Grievance against Chicago Blackhawks

The NHL announced that former Chicago Blackhawk, and current Edmonton Oiler, Corey Perry has a grievance pending against the Blackhawks. Perry believes the Blackhawks termination of his contract was unjustified. While the NHL felt that the termination was justified, Perry and the NHLPA had sixty days from the date of termination to file a grievance.

The NHL and NHLPA agreed to extend the deadline for Perry to file his grievance. There are only certain situations justifying a team’s unilateral termination of a player’s contract. But this situation has been fairly quiet as to what actually happened. Maybe more will come out or maybe it won’t but it will be interesting to see if a grievance actually is filed.

Mike Ribeiro Found Not Guilty on Sexual Assault Charges

In last week’s hockey’s business and legal updates, we discussed that Mike Ribeiro’s trial related to previous sexual assault charges was being held in Texas. This week, the announcement came that the jury returned to find Ribeiro not guilty on two counts of sexual assault. However, the jury couldn’t reach a decision on whether he was guilty of attempted sexual assault. It is not clear if the attempted sexual assault charge will go to retrial or not.

Hockey’s Business and Legal Updates Featured Story: NHL and NHLPA Announce Return to Olympics for NHL Players in 2026 and 2030

In this week’s featured hockey’s business and legal updates, the NHL, NHLPA and IIHF have agreed to NHL players participating in the next two upcoming Winter Olympics in 2026 and 2030. This is a big move as NHL players and fans are finally able to see the best in the world compete. The 2026 games are scheduled for February 6-22, 2026, in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy. It will be the first time NHL Players compete in the Olympics since 2014. The 2030 host should be announced later this year.

To ensure Olympic participation, the NHL, NHLPA and IIHF in conjunction with the IOC all have to reach an agreement. We previously discussed this in more detail here. Now it appears everyone is on board. With that said, the IIHF will still analyze whether Russia will return to the Olympics or not. However, that decision will be down the road while the IIHF will meet soon to discuss Russia’s return to international competition on more of a case-by-case basis.

Post image attribution: By Pawel Maryanov, CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Alec Roberson

Alec Roberson grew up in coastal North Carolina, taking a somewhat unconventional path to hockey. With hockey being almost nonexistent in that area, Alec found his passion for the game following the success of the Carolina Hurricanes in 2001 and 2006 and later played club hockey in college. After going through law school and practicing for some time, he now continues his love for the game through writing. Find him on twitter @roberson_alec

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