As end nears, the CHLPA has no clothes

As the story of the Canadian Hockey League Players’ Association (CHLPA) began a few months ago, it became evident rather early on that the fledgling organization was lacking in credibility.
In what may have been its first message to the masses, someone from the CHLPA misspelled the name of its executive director. This was in a tweet announcing the name of that executive director.
It has been downhill from there for the CHLPA, an organization that, if nothing else, has shown that you don’t have to be credible in order to gain an obscene amount of publicity via social media.
Someone who said his name was Derek Clarke represented himself early on as the CHLPA’s primary spokesman. He was quick to comment but reluctant to appear anywhere in person.
On Wednesday, Dave Naylor, a former CBC Radio reporter now working for TSN, did some digging and uncovered two men named Derek Clarke. Eventually, the one who apparently was with the CHLPA agreed to meet Naylor at a Montreal hotel on Thursday. Naylor later reported that Clarke refused to appear on camera.
By now there were reports that Clarke actually might be Randy Gumbley, a convicted fraudster with a history of running hockey-related scams.
Former NHL enforcer Georges Laraque was introduced as the CHLPA’s executive director in that August tweet in which his name was misspelled.
That should have served as the canary in the CHLPA’s mine.
By the time the CHLPA imploded on Wednesday and Thursday, the situation had become laughable.
There was Sunaya Sapurji, Yahoo! Sports’ junior hockey columnist, tweeting this yesterday: “I wrote this line today: Laraque said Derek Clarke also exists & is actually a man named Derek Clarke with ‘a family and kids and stuff.’ ”
And then there was this, from Willy Palov, who has written about major junior hockey for a long time with the Halifax Chronicle-Herald: “Just spoke with a third highly credible source who says the CHL possesses strong evidence Derek Clarke is Randy Gumbley.”
By late in the business day yesterday, it had been discovered that Derek Clarke — at least a Derek Clarke — and a Glen Clarke were sharing a phone number and email address but neither was returning phone messages.
By now, Laraque, his shovel working hard and the hole getting deeper, was telling Sapurji that Randy Gumbley’s brother, who he said looks a lot like Randy, has been working with the CHLPA.
Seriously!
Through all of this, the CHLPA, via Clarke, had been requesting a meeting with David Branch, who doubles as the CHL president and commissioner of the OHL.
Branch kept asking: “Who are these guys?” But he never got an answer.
So the CHL, in true Hollywood fashion, hired a private eye. No word if it was Thomas Magnum or Jacques Clouseau.
“Our private investigator never did find out who Derek Clarke is,” Branch told Sapurji yesterday.
Earlier in the week, the CHLPA had made a big deal out of the fact it claimed to have signed up the majority of players from one QMJHL team. That turned out to be the expansion Sherbrooke Phoenix.
Late yesterday, Panov reported: “Another credible source said Laraque gathered the Sherbrooke Phoenix players at a hotel earlier this week and informed them the players from the other 17 teams in the Quebec league had already joined the union and asked them to do the same.
“Nineteen of the 23 players allegedly signed cards, but they were asked to keep it confidential. One player eventually broke his silence to Phoenix staff during a team bus ride later that day.”
Meanwhile, players throughout the WHL have been laughing at the stumbling and bumbling. On the weekend, four senior members of the Kamloops Blazers indicated there was no interest in their dressing room in the CHLPA. The story was the same with the Edmonton Oil Kings, Kelowna Rockets, Saskatoon Blades and on and on.
In the hopes of being certified in Alberta, the CHLPA had applied to the Alberta Labour Relations Board on Oct. 5. Kristen Odland of the Calgary Herald reported yesterday that the law firm that had been representing the CHLPA, the Calgary-based Victory Square Law Office LLP, had withdrawn its services.
By late last night, the CHLPA also had lost its law firm in Quebec.
And then, at 7 p.m. Pacific time, came word that Laraque was resigning.
The CHLPA’s sweater, it seems, just continues to unravel.

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Blazers don't seem interested in CHLPA

By GREGG DRINNAN
Daily News Sports Editor
The union that is working to organize the Canadian Hockey League’s 60 teams hasn’t yet made its way into the Kamloops Blazers’ dressing room.
Players with the WHL team said on the weekend that they are aware that the Canadian Hockey League Players’ Association exists in some form but admit to not knowing a whole lot about it.
Furthermore, it doesn’t seem they much care.
“In our dressing room, there isn’t a lot of talk about it, to be honest with you,” centre Dylan Willick, 20, one of the Blazers’ three alternate captains, said. “At this point, it’s basically all outside . . . it’s all them doing this thing.”
Centre Colin Smith, 19, another alternate captain, added: “Around the league, everybody is treated very well so I’m not too sure what their incentives are. I don’t know a whole lot about it. But I’m sure it will sort itself out.”
Defenceman Tyler Hansen, 19, the Blazers’ third alternate captain, hasn’t been approached by the CHLPA and said he isn’t at all interested.
“I don’t believe in the CHLPA,” Hansen said. “Our owners treat us really well. They’re obviously our biggest fans and we know they’d do anything for  us.
“We feel as a team that we’re taken care of and we love our owners. We like the way things are going here in Kamloops.”
The existence of the CHLPA came to light a few weeks ago. However, it got off to a rather shaky start when, in announcing that former NHLer Georges Laraque was its executive director, it misspelled his name. Shortly after that, someone with the CHLPA took to Twitter with a number of error-filled tweets involving the purported ticket-generated revenue of each of the CHL’s 60 teams.
Since then, the CHLPA, which has mostly been fronted by a spokesperson named Derek Clarke, has slowly begun to emerge from the shadows.
Late last week, the CHLPA informed each of the OHL’s 20 teams that it will be suing them because, among other things, players aren’t paid a minimum wage. Earlier, the CHLPA, which hasn’t been certified as a bargaining unit, registered as a union in Alberta and filed an unfair labour practice charge against the Calgary Hitmen, alleging that management broke up an organizing meeting.
The CHLPA also asked the Alberta Labour Relations Board to waive a 60-day waiting period prior to a certification vote, claiming it feared reprisals against players should team management discover who was involved. The ALRB turned down that request last week.
WHL teams have been referring questions to the league office in Calgary. The response from the CHL and its three members leagues has been pretty much standard.
As WHL commissioner Ron Robison told The Globe and Mail’s James Mirtle last week: “To suggest we’re not taking care of our players is entirely contradictory to what we do. We’re offended by those type of statements and remarks.”
Willick said he has had some contact with Clarke, but added that “our team has yet to be really approached by anybody.”
“I’ve done an interview before on it and after the interview they approached me via Twitter and we had some emails back and forth,” Willick, 20, stated.
Willick said a meeting was set up but that it never took place after organizers realized that Willick would be attending by himself and not with teammates.
“Everyone who is here is happy to be here,” Willick said. “We get treated so well in this dressing room. Our equipment is paid for. We get living expenses paid for. There is nothing that we need to worry about in our day-to-day lives. There are no distractions. Nobody raises anything about it.”
Someone from the CHLPA also tried to contact right-winger Jordan DePape, 20, via Facebook but he didn’t respond.
“It’s just something I’m not interested in,” he explained. “I’m a 20-year-old and won’t even be here next season.”
Besides, DePape, added, “We’re treated great. I don’t even really care to talk to them just because of how we’re treated here. There’s nothing I’d want to change.”
Smith wondered if CHLPA organizers are even on the “same wavelength” as the players.
“As far as we’re concerned, there is no concern about the union at all,” he said. “Our owners treat us tremendously well and care a lot about the team.
“The actual players . . . no one is on the same wavelength. They are coming out and saying stuff about the players but there is no need for it from the actual players.”
Smith said “all your best friends are in the league” and, with social media being what it is, players are in constant contact with each other. He said he hasn’t heard any rumblings of discontent.
“It might just be because of what’s going on in the NHL,” Smith reasoned. “Maybe some people look at it as an opportunity . . . they thought maybe there was room for something here. But the NHL is a totally different animal. In the NHL, you’re talking about careers. In junior hockey, it’s more of a platform.”
In the WHL, Smith said, it isn’t about the money.
“No,” he said. “We’re here because we love the game and we’re trying to make it to the NHL, just like every other kid. As far as the money is concerned, that’s not what it’s about.”
Willick said that the Blazers, who own the WHL’s best record, have one thing on their minds right now.
“We are focusing on our season,” he said. “We’re focusing on being a team, being united and playing in the league that we’re in.
“Everything that’s outside the dressing room at this point is outside the dressing room.”
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If you have interest in what's happening with the CHLPA, you should read this piece right here by Chris Peters at The United States of Hockey and this one right here from Guy Flaming at The Pipeline Show.

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Well, if that really was the debut day for the Canadian Hockey League Players’ Association, let’s just say it was rather inauspicious.
I mean, the worst movie you ever saw had a better debut.
It began with a tweet from the CHLPA:
“NEWS FLASH*** George Laraque signs on with the CHLPA as Executive Director”
Uhh, the gentleman’s name is Georges.
Later, Laraque apparently was to have appeared on a Toronto sports radio show. For some reason, he didn’t make it.
A report by The Canadian Press included this sentence: “Messages for Laraque weren’t returned.”
At the same time, David Branch, who heads up the CHL, was telling The Canadian Press that he knows nothing about the union and that he hasn’t been contacted by anyone from the CHLPA.
There was considerable CHLPA-related chatter on Twitter until later in the afternoon (Pacific time). That’s about when it got blown out of the twitterverse with the news that Avril Lavigne and Chad Kroeger were engaged.
Oh well, there’s always tomorrow. But, at least for now, the C in CHLPA doesn’t stand for credible.
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Here’s Rob Henderson of the Brandon Sun:
While CHLPA spokesman Derek Clarke told the Windsor Star that the union has representatives on all 60 CHL teams, Brandon Wheat Kings goalie Corbin Boes said he has never been contacted personally and doesn’t know of any other players who have.
“That’s the first I’ve ever heard of it,” he said. “Very surprising stuff for me.”
“I read an article (Monday) about it and I saw today Georges Laraque is the executive director, but I don’t know a whole lot,” he continued. “I’d probably have to look more into it, but I guess in some ways it could be beneficial to players, but I don’t really see how it’s necessary, I guess.”
Clarke’s assertion in the Star that “99.9 per cent of the players on active rosters last year know about it” but have been asked to keep tight-lipped for now also seems dubious given the comments of former Wheat King and current Vancouver Giant goaltender Liam Liston, a WHL veteran who is apparently part of the other 0.1 per cent, tweeting, “You’d think that the CHL players might get contacted about this whole CHLPA thing . . . but that would make too much sense.”
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Scott Stinson of the National Post writes: “The CHL and its member leagues did not know anything about it. Players quoted in various stories are similarly uninformed, despite assurances from the CHLPA that an ‘overwhelming’ number of them support the initiative. And, most significantly, the people behind the organization have been cloaked in mystery.”
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Evan Daum of the Edmonton Journal writes that neither Oil Kings captain Mark Pysyk nor any of his teammates seem to have heard from the CHLPA, nor do they know any more than anyone else about what’s going on.
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Sunaya Sapurji of Yahoo! Sports takes a look at the CHLPA and what it’s up against if it hopes to gain certification in Ontario. That piece is right here. . . . She also found a couple of OHL players who heard from people purporting to be from a potential union/association, but neither player sounds too impressed.
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Meanwhile, in other news . . .
F Brayden Cuthbert of the Moose Jaw Warriors hasn’t played since Jan. 22, 2011, when he was nailed in open ice by Red Deer Rebels D Mathew Dumba. Since then, Cuthbert has been dealing with post-concussion syndrome. Cuthbert, 18, is in Moose Jaw and is skating, but has yet to receive medical clearance to return to full-contact workouts. Matthew Gourlie of the Moose Jaw Times-Herald has that story right here.
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The junior B Kimberley Dynamiters, who play in the Kootenay International Junior league, have announced that they have added Kris Knoblauch to their coaching staff. He will work alongside head coach Roman Vopat and fellow assistants Jordan Freeman and Todd White. . . . Knoblauch spent the last two four seasons with the Kootenay Ice, the latter two as head coach. He lost his job when he agreed to be interviewed for the head-coaching position with his alma mater, the U of Alberta Golden Bears, while still under contract with the Ice.
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The Everett Silvertips have welcomed Lisa Rody, the wife of former WHL linesman Vaughan Rody, as their host family co-ordinator. She replaces Pat Jones, who had filled that spot since the Silvertips’ inaugural season (2003-04). She stepped down over the summer. . . . The Rodys have billeted players since 2004. Vaughan has worked the last 13 years as an NHL linesman after spending 10 seasons in the WHL. . . . As well, the Silvertips announced that Darren Parsons is returning for a second season as education co-ordinator. Parsons, originally from Prince Albert, played in the WHL with the Regina Pats and Brandon Wheat Kings (1986-89). He is a teacher at Lake Stevens Middle School.
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Hockey’s history is one of the most under-served areas of the game. Far too many leagues and teams have poor accounts of what happened back in the day.
The BCHL’s Merritt Centennials are preparing for their 40th anniversary season and are hoping to reconnect with a lot of the past.
The Centennials are looking for statistics and rosters from a number of seasons.
"The Centennials have never really had an accurate compilation of all-time statistics and we're close to getting there," Brian Wiebe, the team’s media and communications co-ordinator, said in a news release. "Out of 39 seasons, only a handful are missing."
Wiebe is hoping the team will be able “to compile all-time franchise leaders in goals, assists, points and penalty minutes for forwards and defencemen.”
As well, he said, “Because win-loss records are proving to be very hard to come by, for goaltenders we're just focusing on games-played, goals-against-average and hopefully, save percentage.”
Wiebe isn’t looking for originals to keep.
“All materials submitted will be returned if they are originals,” he said."
The team also would like to get scans of historic Cents photos that any fans may have.
The Centennials are missing full player stats and/or rosters for the following seasons:
1973-74
1976-77
1977-78
1978-79
1980-81
1981-82
1989-90
If you might be able to able, please contact Wiebe at 604-916-8448 or via email at info@merrittcentennials.com.
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The Victoria Times Colonist reports that there are a couple of players with familiar surnames in camp with the BCHL’s Victoria Frizzlies. . . . F Daniel Nachbaur, 17, is the son of Spokane Chiefs head coach Don Nachbaur. Daniel spent last season with the NAHL’s Wenatchee, Wash., Wild. . . . D Logan Hawgood of Kamloops is the son of Greg, a former Blazers star and head coach. Logan, 19, played last season with the Helena Bighorns of the American West League.

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THE MacBETH REPORT:
F Konstantin Pushkarev (Calgary, 2004-05) was released by Spartak Moscow (Russia, KHL) by mutual agreement. He had signed a two-year contract with Spartak in June. Last season, Pushkarev had one goal and two assists in 20 games with Barys Astana (Kazakhstan, KHL) and five goals and two assists in six games on loan assignment to Barys-2 Astana (Kazakhstan, Premier League).
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A players’ association in junior hockey? That has been in the works for 14 months? That no one involved in junior hockey — from players to agents to front-office types — seems to know anything about?
Sorry . . . but there aren’t any secrets in the hockey world, which often turns out to me smaller than most neighbourhoods. On to pof that, I’m from Missouri. Someone is going to have to show me something, especially when it comes to asking for a $1.50 surcharge on every ticket sold (yes, and pigs can fly) and getting 60 per cent of Canadian Hockey League players to sign on the dotted line (have you ever tried herding cats?).
Anyway . . . I am the first person to say that Hockey Canada and some major junior operators have made, and continue to make, a whack of cash in a business in which the labour costs are minimal.
(Hmm! Perhaps the CHLPA, if that’s what it’s called, can organize these players through the Screen Actors Guild. After all, the players are more entertainers than they are a labour force.)
But it’s got to be nigh impossible to organize an association that will include players who aren’t yet 15 years of age when a season begins and some who will be 21 when the season ends.
Anyway . . . some of the big boys are paying attention.
The Globe and Mail has a story right here.
The Toronto Star has a story right here.
And thanks to Yahoo! Sports for compiling a few comments off Twitter right here.
If you want more on this subject, this piece right here showed up on the Internet on Friday night, via The Junior Hockey News (www.thejuniorhockeynews.com).
Mike Davies of the Peterborough Examiner filed this story right here on Sunday night.
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I have heard from someone with some knowledge of labor laws in Washington state, which is home to four WHL teams.
Let’s pretend for a moment that this CHLPA comes to fruition and that players are labelled as employees.
“In Washington state,” notes the source, “there are laws regulating the employment of minors. If you are 16 or 17, you can work no more than four hours in a day (eight on a Friday, Saturday, or
Sunday), no more than 20 hours in a week, and no more than six days a week during school weeks. You cannot start work before 7 a.m., and you cannot work after 10 p.m. (midnight on Friday or Saturday). If it's not a school week, then you can work eight hours a day, 48 hours in a week, start at 5 a.m. and end at midnight.
“I can see the State of Washington saying that travel time is work time. So now teams would have to travel the day before a game and the day after.”
And what about on game nights?
“Teams require players to arrive at the rink two hours before game time. So that means that in weeknight games, anyone under 18 would have to pack it in after the second period.
“Now try to schedule games. . . . If you are 15, then the restrictions are more severe: three hours a day, 16 hours a week, and you have to quit by 7 p.m. Every day.”
Oh, and the players would have to go by their actual ages, not hockey ages.
“A team would not be able to play a ‘late birthday’ 16 until after he actually turned 16. Plus there would be no callups of 15s until they actually turned 16.”
And what of paying the players?
“You would also become liable under state law to pay minimum wage ($9.04 an hour in Washington right now), provide a meal break, rest breaks — ‘They must be allowed a rest period no later than the end of the third hour of the shift.’ — AND you have to get a State Work Permit and the parents and school must sign off on the work permit, before the minor begins employment.”
The rules governing teen workers in the State of Washington are right here.
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The Portland Winterhawks have signed D Keoni Texeira, who was the 26th overall selection in the 2012 bantam draft. He was Portland’s first pick in that draft. A native of Fontana, Calif., Texeira had 82 points, including 35 goals, in 67 games with the L.A. Selects of the Tier 1 Elite Major Bantam AAA league. He is expected to play this season with the L.A. Jr. Kings U16 AAA team.
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The BCHL’s Nanaimo Clippers announced Monday that they have signed Greg Fraser, 20, who played the last four seasons with the Prince George Cougars, who gave him his release last week. Fraser, who is from Nanaimo, spent four seasons with the Cougars. He also played two games with the Clippers in 2007-08. . . . Fraser told the Cougars he wanted to get working on his education and Vancouver Island U has a campus in Nanaimo.
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The ECHL’s Colorado Eagles need goaltending, after former WHLer Damien Ketlo chose to go to school (U of Lethbridge) and Andrew Penner retired. According to the Loveland, Colo., Reporter-Herald, the Eagles have signed two goaltenders, one of whom is Adam Brown, who played the last four seasons with the WHL’s Kelowna Rockets. They also signed Aaron Dell, who is a product of the U of North Dakota program. . . . Colorado head coach Chris Stewart once did a stint behind the bench with the Prince Albert Raiders.
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Mike McBain, a defenceman who played four seasons (1993-97) with the Red Deer Rebels, is, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, “accused of molesting his stepdaughter over a four-year period, beginning when the girl was 12 in 2008, and faces nine felony charges.” . . . The Review-Journal’s story is right here.
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Matt Crossman of Sporting News has a piece right here that details some of the problems being encountered by former NFL players.
Crossman writes: “(Greg) Koch is one of 125 former NFL players who took part in a Sporting News survey about the impact of concussions. The results suggest far more players suffered far more concussions than previously has been reported. The consequences are far-reaching for the players and their families.
“Of the 125 players, 115 reported suffering at least one concussion. Of those 115, 76 listed at least one mental-health symptom that could be related to their head injuries, though many said they could not definitively tie their problems to concussions.”
Be forewarned; this is not a pretty story.
 
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