A Costly Practice

Inadvertently, head coach Pete DeBoer may have cost his bosses a lot of money. The Dallas Stars head coach was asked by reporters about getting younger players ready for NHL game action before the Stars hit the ice against the Minnesota Wild on Friday, and he named seven players who were at the Stars' practice facility on Thursday for what was described as an "optional skate". The problem lies in the fact that the "optional skate" that DeBoer held violated the CBA agreement's where December 26 is a mandated day off.

As reported by Lia Assimakopoulos in The Dallas Morning News, "Pete DeBoer told reporters, 'I was at the rink yesterday. We had an optional, and of course, the young guys all show up for the optionals, like, they're supposed to do.'"

Unfortunately for DeBoer, "Article 16.5 (b) of the CBA states, 'December 24, Christmas Day, and December 26 shall be off-days for all purposes, including travel, and no Club may request a Player's consent to practice on such days for any reason.'"

Needless to say, the NHL is forced to open an investigation into the matter since it's CBA-related, and it's expected there will be a hefty fine handed down to the Dallas Stars thanks to previous teams also ignoring this mandated time off. The Philadelphia Flyers were fined an undisclosed amount in 2015 after breaking this rule while the Toronto Maple Leafs were docked $100,000 for breaking this rule. While $100,000 isn't a lot in the operations of a hockey team, there's no set precendent that $100,000 will be the maximum fine either.

Based on DeBoer's comment of "the young guys all show up for the optionals, like, they're supposed to do", the NHLPA could easily argue that this "optional skate" was actually a mandatory practice for the seven players mentioned by DeBoer, namely Mavrik Bourque, Oskar Bäck, Logan Stankoven, Wyatt Johnston, Lian Bichsel, Nils Lundkvist, and Thomas Harley. And while I'm sure that DeBoer wouldn't go out of his way to violate the CBA's agreed-upon terms, it's hard to understand why he would have an optional skate without checking with someone more in tune with the CBA first.

DeBoer did attmept some damage control today as he stated that it was "voluntary ice" instead of a scheduled optional practice, but his previous comments before the CBA violation was brought to his attention would seemingly blow a hole right through that damage control. To that extent, DeBoer admitted, "I'm assuming if the league's looking into it, I made a mistake somewhere, so we'll see what that investigation comes up with."

Unfortunately for DeBoer, it's likely this investigation won't take long, and the result is that Dallas owner Tom Gagliardi will be a little lighter in the pocketbook after his coach broke the rules. What the cost will be for this holiday practice has yet to be determined, but I'd expect $100,000 to be the starting point as the NHL looks to enter CBA negotiations next month with the NHLPA on good terms.

My kingdom for "voluntary ice"? It won't be that expensive, but Pete DeBoer will likely be told to consult with CBA experts before arranging any ice time during breaks in the schedule.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!