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Russ Farwell told lawmakers WHL is part of USA Hockey, as league relies on amateurism argument
The Western Hockey League might get the legal win it is looking for if Washington state passes a bill that would essentially define players as something other than employees.
One need not take a side in the legal maneuvering to wonder about what is to be gained for telling a fairly large fib. This week, state legislators in Washington are holding rounds of public hearings about modifying House Bill 1930 and Senate Bill 5893, which define just who is an employee in a state that four WHL teams. This comes while the league is also facing a class-action suit from former player Lukas Walter over unpaid wages.
It is one thing to highlight the many ways that major junior players are compensated (even if many depend on the Bank of Mom and Dad to meet living expenses, as Walter claims). It is quite another to state players are "100 per cent amateurs" and that the WHL is an amateur league answerable to, say, USA Hockey. Yet that happened.
From Robert Cribb:
“We are members of both Hockey Canada and USA Hockey which are the governing bodies for amateur hockey in North America and our players are 100 per cent amateurs,” Russ Farwell, president and GM of the CHL’s Seattle Thunderbirds testified last week, in support of the bill before the state’s house labor committee.
Documents and interviews with Hockey Canada and USA Hockey officials confirm CHL clubs, including those in Washington, are not members of the two governing amateur hockey associations. And the question of whether junior hockey players are truly amateurs under the law is a matter of intense and growing legal debate.
“We have had no communication with any CHL teams nor do I know of them being members,” said John Vanbiesbrouck, junior hockey chair of USA Hockey for the past three years.
“I have no idea (why they would say that). . . . I don’t know what their view of being members are. But their team at the junior level is not registered with USA Hockey.” (Toronto Star)
Understandably, there is a lot at stake for the WHL, and too the Ontario and Quebec leagues. On top of the prospect of seeing their overhead increase, there's also the prospect of change, which is typically frightening to most people. But the overarching point is to hope the leagues would come up with a more progressive response than the amateurism/student-athlete tack. Junior teams are businesses and not schools, and they place heavy demands on their players.
In a letter to Washington politicians, Walter's counsel, Ted Charney, argued there are indicators of a working relationship between players and WHL teams. It's a very grey area, obviously, and there is the reality that several franchises in smaller centres operate on a much smaller scale than the London Knights or Quebec Remparts. (Quebecor paying a reported $25 million for the Remparts is the definition of an outlier.)
Every industry goes through a shake-up every so often. Perhaps major junior has been overdue and is just seeing if it can prolong the inevitable.
Update, Feb. 19: Dave Fischer of USA Hockey was kind enough to provide some clarity regarding U.S.-based major junior teams and USA Hockey. The teams are members, although the leagues have their autonomy:
Just wanted you to be aware that, contrary to what was attributed to John Vanbiesbrouck in the Toronto Star story, all players of CHL teams based in the United States are indeed members of USA Hockey.
John is a volunteer in the capacity as chair of our Junior Council and understandably was not aware of the detail related to this topic as it falls operationally in international hockey.
Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Follow him on Twitter @neatebuzzthenet.
