THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, September 21, 1995 TAG: 9509210526
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Analysis
SOURCE: BY HARRY MINIUM, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 105 lines
The specter of a players' strike is threatening yet another professional league.
This time it isn't the NBA, NHL or major league baseball. It's the East Coast Hockey League, which is struggling to reach a collective bargaining agreement with its fledgling union.
With less than two weeks to go before training camps open, there is no agreement in sight.
``The negotiations are going slow, real slow,'' said Pat Cavanaugh of Virginia Beach, a former Hampton Roads Admiral who played for Nashville and Dayton last season and is a member of the players' negotiating team.
Players say the opening of the 1995-96 season (Oct. 14) won't be delayed, yet they decline to guarantee that they won't strike later on. No one expects a strike, both sides insist, but did anyone truly expect baseball players to walk out in 1994?
The contract squabble is another sign that the ECHL has become a victim of its own success. From its humble beginnings as a low-budget, five-team league in 1987, it has expanded to 21 cities from the shores of Lake Erie to the swamps of Louisiana. It is the largest amalgam in the history of minor league hockey and is located in some of the best markets outside the NHL - Charlotte, Jacksonville, Nashville, and Hampton Roads.
Expansion franchises cost $1.5 million, up from $25,000 when Blake Cullen purchased the Admirals.
With that kind of money, it was inevitable change would occur. That's why the American Hockey League tried to raid the ECHL's top markets last spring. And it's why the players want a bigger piece of the ECHL pie.
Who's to blame for the protracted negotiations? Depends on whom you ask.
The Professional Hockey Players Association, which also represents players in the AHL and International Hockey League, was recognized as the players' collective bargaining agent last spring. Yet negotiations didn't begin until mid-July. Management says fault lies with the union, which continually put off negotiations.
Meanwhile, when the union asked for data on ECHL income that it needed to formulate proposals on salaries and other benefits, the league was tardy in responding, union officials claim.
Whoever is at fault, the result is that the two sides have only recently dug their teeth into complex negotiations. Everything from salaries to living expenses to travel conditions to guaranteed contracts to training camps to trainers and health insurance is on the table.
``We want everything standardized, even the little things,'' Cavanaugh said. ``We want everyone to have the things that the best franchises like Hampton Roads give their players, but that you have to haggle to get in other cities.''
Health insurance might be a sticking point. The union wants year-around coverage for the players. The Professional Hockey Players Association insists that the owners buy into its plan, of which the union would receive a cut.
Two other major areas of concern are the salary cap and the veterans rule.
The players want the salary cap raised from last year's level of $6,000 per week per team. Anticipating the union demand, the ECHL secretly raised the salary cap by $1,500 this summer. Abolishing it would be wiser. The cap is a joke, as almost everyone in the ECHL will acknowledge privately.
Columbus coach Moe Mantha is one of the few to say so publicly. He told a Columbus newspaper last spring that most teams are cheating. He called upon the league to investigate.
The reaction of commissioner Pat Kelly shows the ECHL has grown faster than it has grown wiser. Rather than investigate, he sent a memo to league officials threatening fines and suspensions if they criticized the salary cap again.
The league should heed the counsel of Cullen, who has long said the cap is unenforceable, breeds dishonesty and mistrust and deprives fans of seeing the best hockey possible.
The veterans rule - each team is limited to three players with three or more years of pro experience - is another dinosaur that should be put to rest. It was supposed to prevent gap-toothed, 35-year-old thugs from giving the ECHL a bad name. What it's done instead is to put clean-cut, hard-working players such as longtime Admiral Dennis McEwen on the sidelines.
The ECHL should take advantage of the union negotiations to deep-six both the cap and vets rule. The players, meanwhile, should be patient and realize they will have to accept less than what they're seeking.
``As long as things are moving along, as long as there's progress, there will be no strike,'' Cavanaugh said.
Which means both sides had better make darn sure there's progress. One only need look to the empty seats in baseball stadiums to foresee the disaster that awaits the ECHL if there is a work stoppage. MEMO: MAJOR ISSUES
The Professional Hockey Players Association, which represents players
in the American and International hockey leagues, was recognized as the
collective bargaining agent for players in the East Coast Hockey League
last spring. However, negotiations between the union and ECHL are moving
slowly. There apparently will be no contract when the season begins.
Some of the major issues:
Health Insurance for players: The union wants the ECHL to buy into
its health plan to provide players uniform coverage.
Salary cap: The union wants the salary cap of $7,500 per week per
team raised.
Veterans rule: Teams are limited to three players with three years or
more of pro experience. The union wants the rule abolished.
Other expenses: The union wants virtually all other expenses
standardized, from living expenses to meals on road trips and training
camp conditions. by CNB