CANTLON: HOCKEY OFF-SEASON NEWS & NOTES – VOL 30 

BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings

HARTFORD, CT – So much news and activity in the hockey world this week.

As a business, the AHL had a small-town model that was the norm nearly 30 years ago. That is now long gone.

An average salary then was a mere $40K.

The first $100K player in the AHL was a goalie with the New Haven Senators, Darrin Madeley. His teammates hated him for it because he was a rookie. Brad Miller, a teammate at the time, once said that he hadn’t earned it.

This week, despite a pandemic with 10 million Americans out of work, with an almost orgy-like of spending, continued into the free agency period.  With the new six-year extension of the CBA – overwriting the final two years of the current contract and extending it four years beyond that – will see the economic landscape continue in an escalating upward direction.

A source, who has seen the NHL CBA, says the future compensation model is just astonishing.

Alexis Lafreniere signed his first pro contract on his birthday this past Tuesday, to the standard $925K pay to play in the NHL and $70K for his play in the AHL. Those amounts will soon be in the rearview mirror.

The pay scale for future entry-level compensation will look like this;

2020-21   $925K-NHL/$70K-AHL
2021-22   $925K-NHL/$70K-AHL
2022-23   $950K-NHL/$82,500K-AHL
2023-24   $950K-NHL/$82,500K-AHL
2024-25   $975K-NHL/$85,500K-AHL
2025-26   $975K-NHL-$85,500K-AHL
2026-27   $1,000,000M-NHL/$87,500K-AHL

At the University of New Haven, in one of the first sports management courses offered in the country, its professor, Allen Sack, a member of the 1966 NCAA Division I national football championship team at Notre Dame, used the term “exotic technical, financial instruments,” a fancy phrase for borrowing money from banks by leveraging a more profitable business venture to meet the costs of the sports franchise.

The ever-rising costs of doing business in pro sports, which were just developing then, resulting from free agency in the 1970s, and from what was then a novelty called cable TV and rights fees for broadcasts. Sack understood how a leveraged sports team, then mostly the MLB and the NFL, and then the NHL and NBA, followed suit as the economic dynamics changed. Sack rightfully projected that being the case now as sports contracting is in such an upward trajectory. It is also very true of minor league hockey today as their NHL parent teams now own 20 of the AHL’s 32 teams.

The exigency is creating a league where the NHL, which is still a gate-receipts dependent league, has seen its tickets prices soaring into the stratosphere, and the once minor league affordability for family tickets no longer fitting that category either with the future AHL salary structure demonstrating that gap will only be widening over time.

Kudos to now-former Hartford Wolf Pack players Vinni Lettieri, Daniel Carr, and Danny O’Regan for attaining the compensation they will receive for their skills, but at the end of the day, will minor league operations be sustainable with such an expensive salary structure?

The world of the draft and money has truly changed over a generation.

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A very timely interview by columnist Carl Tardif in the French-language newspaper, Le Nouvelliste Trois-Rivieres, cites two former Ranger draft choices from Quebec, and former New Haven Nighthawk, Lucien DeBlois from Joliette, and Mario Marois from L’ Ancienne-Lorette.

DeBlois was a first-round (8th overall) selection in 1977 from the Sorel Blackhawks. The WHA Quebec Nordiques also took him first-round (9th overall) in the WHA draft.

DeBlois would play 993 NHL games tallying 249 goals and 525 points with the New York Rangers, Colorado Avalanche, and Winnipeg Jets, where he served as a captain. He also played for the Quebec Nordiques, Toronto Maple Leafs, and Montreal, when the Canadiens won the 1986 Stanley Cup championship.

Marois was a fourth-round pick that same year (62nd overall) and played his junior hockey with the first edition of the QMJHL’s Quebec Remparts. He played 955 NHL games with 433 points.

Marois stated that his first NHL deal was for $30K in the NHL, and $17K in the AHL, and $10K if you played in a lower minor league at the time (IHL or ACHL). The players did receive a $5K advance for housing costs.

Times have certainly changed.

Coincidentally, DeBlois coached Christian Daigle in Junior hockey in Moncton (QMJHL). He now operates the sports management company, Momentum Hockey, that represents Lafreniere.

Lafreniere’s agent is Émilie Castonguay, the first NHLPA certified female player agent, and the Vice-President of Momentum Hockey.

DeBlois’s son, Christian, is an amateur scout who covers the Quebec area for the Ottawa Senators. His other son, Dominic, is a player agent.

Lucien DeBlois was a scout with the Vancouver Canucks until 2017, and Mario Marois finished NHL pro scouting in 2017 with the Detroit Red Wings. He was an assistant coach for the Baie-Comeau Drakkar (QMJHL) for half a season in 2018-19.

Lafreniere joined an exclusive Quebec first-round selection group of eleven and joined an exclusive Rangers first-round group of selections from Quebec, the eighth in Rangers history. He joins:

1965  Andre Veilleux (1st)  Trois-Rivieres QJAHL
1969  Pierre Jarry (12th)  Ottawa-OHL (Montreal)
1969  Andre Dupont (8th)  Montreal-QMJHL (Trois-Rivieres)
1970 Norm Gratton (11th  Montreal-QMJHL (LaSalle)
1977 Lucien DeBlois (8th)  Sorel-QMJHL (Joliette)
1996 Dan Cloutier (26th)   Sault Ste. Marie (OHL) (Mont-Laurier)
2001 Dan Blackburn (10th) Kootenay-WHL  (Montreal) (grew up in Canmore, AB).

Lafreniere is also part of another exclusive group in Rangers draft history as part of the ninth time the Rangers have had two picks in the first round.

2020
1st overall Alexis Lafreniere
19th Braden Schneider

2018
1st 9th Vitali Kravtsov
1st 21st K’Andre Miller
1st 28th Nils Lundkvist

2017
1st 7th Lias Andersson
1st 21st Filip Chytil

2004
1st 6th Al Montoya
1st 19th Lauri Korpikoski

1999
1st 4th Pavel Brendl
1st 9th Jamie Lundmark

1977
1st 8th Lucien DeBlois
1st 13th Ron Duguay

1971
1st 10th Al Blanchard
1st 15th Bob MacMillan

1970
1st 10th Steve Vickers
1st 13th Steve Durbano

1969
1st 8th Andre “Moose” Dupont
1st 12th Pierre Jarry

COLLEGE HOCKEY NEWS 

Yale University (ECACHL) hockey returned to “Phase 0” and shut down practices after six players tested positive for COVID-19. This outbreak doesn’t help the cause of winter sports being played, not just at Yale, but in the ECACHL, which has been on thin ice for some time. Read about that HERE

Things got even worse with twelve more players testing positive, Ingalls Rink getting padlocked, and the university going to “Code Yellow” status.

The AHA Conference announced that its opening matches for the Big 10 teams will be the weekend of November 13-14, just under a month from now.

The conference-only schedule will feature 24 games between 12 teams and up to 28 games for all AHA teams.

The season will conclude with an Atlantic Hockey playoff tournament that’ll include all eleven of the league’s teams except Long Island University, who are in their first season of Division-I play.

The playoffs will be played over three weekends and culminate with returning to Buffalo’s LECOM HarborCenter for the semifinals and finals.

“First off, I’m extremely excited to be announcing we have an approved league schedule for the 2020-21 season,” said AHA commissioner Robert DeGregorio in the league’s press statement. “It’s been a long process and involved quite a bit of discussion, but it’s a testament to all those involved that we have managed to get Atlantic Hockey on the ice in 2020-21.

“We put this schedule together to maximize the student-athlete experience during such uncertain times. We found a way to schedule up to 28 games while maintaining a focus on the health and safety of all parties by reducing travel times and overnight trips as much as we could.”

To mitigate some of the risk factors regarding COVID-19 exposure during travel, Atlantic Hockey has separated the league into Eastern and Western divisions.

The Eastern Division will be made up of American International College (AIC), Army, Bentley, Holy Cross, and Sacred Heart University in Bridgeport. The Western Division will consist of Canisius, Mercyhurst, Niagara University, R.I.T., and Robert Morris University.

Air Force, a Division-I Independent that plays within the AHA conference, is one of two schools that could be called non-aligned.

All teams will play five games against each divisional member (20 total games) and play Air Force for a pair of game-making for 22 league games. They’ll then play a two-game set against Long Island University (LIU), who is being worked in as a scheduling partner for the 2020-21 season.

Air Force will play each team twice and add in the Sharks for four games – two home and two on the road.

Now, LIU becomes a scheduling partner. Before there was even a possibility, it was decided that league standings would be determined on a point percentage basis this season, not by total points or even by win percentage.

Atlantic Hockey chose this direction for this season for two significant reasons: 1) There is no guarantee each team will be able to play a full league schedule, and 2) wins are not valued the same in the 3-on-3 OT model, which is the new overtime model this year.

The win percentage, while easier to comprehend, was not viable. With that in place, moving to a schedule where the Air Force had 20 league games and all other members had 22 did not impact the ability to schedule this work.

The conference is still working to finalize the return-to-play protocols on fan participation for the season. Still, LIU has agreed to abide by all protocols for the 2020-21 season, including testing, screening procedures, sanitization, and other preventative measures outlined in the document.

The full 2020-21 Atlantic Hockey schedule, which will include some scheduled non-conference games, will be released later.

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The Grand Forks Herald is reporting the NCHC (National Collegiate Hockey Conference) has an early model leaning towards starting the 2020-21 season in a “bubble” and playing approximately ten games in a three-week span between Thanksgiving and Christmas to start the 2020-21 season.

Grand Forks, N.D., and the 11,634-seat Ralph Engelstad’s Arena and the University of Nebraska-Omaha’s 7,898 Baxter Arena have emerged as the favorites to host the games.

A final decision is expected to be made sometime in the next two weeks by a vote of NCHC schools and relevant conference committees to approve the plan.

Games will be played on weekdays and weekends.

“It gives you an opportunity to control variables that aren’t controlled in a normal scheduled travel environment,” NCHC commissioner Josh Fenton told the Herald last month. “We know the success the NBA had; the NHL has had. If you’re able to control some variables, it does give you an opportunity.”

The hub games would also cut down on travel costs for each school and reduced exposure chances. Fan participation will be decided at a later date.

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Only Hockey East and the WCHA have yet to announce their schedule and format for the 2020-21 season. All that is known, though, is that UCONN will be playing all their home games on campus at the Freitas Ice Forum in Storrs and none at the XL Center in Hartford.

The ECACHL might start later or skip the season altogether.

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The new CCHA, a men’s Division-I conference that will begin play in October 2021, announced its new logo. It was designed by Bosack & Co., one of the country’s top college branding firms.

The league described its initial logo as a “bold, distinctive interpretation” of each of the CCHA letter-forms, underlined by a hockey stick using red and blue colors, “a classic hockey palette,” according to a CCHA news release.

“Today, we made another historic step in the branding of the CCHA,” stated CCHA commissioner Don Lucia in the conference press release. “It is a very exciting time, as we prepare to begin to play in 2021, and we appreciate all of the work (Bosack & Co. founder and creative director) Joe Bosack and his team did to create the visual identity for our new league.”

“It was exciting to imagine the new brand identity that represents the mission and vision of the CCHA,” added Bosack. “We are thrilled with the results of our collaboration with Commissioner Lucia and the member schools.”

The new CCHA logo is also available in each member school’s own colors, which offers the institutions an opportunity to further embrace the relationship between the CCHA and each school’s hockey program.

The new CCHA conference will include eight schools – Bemidji State, Bowling Green, Ferris State, Lake Superior State, Michigan Tech, Minnesota State, Northern Michigan from the WCHA conference, and recently added from Division III, St. Thomas of Minnesota.

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The NCAA released its list of the future men’s tournament Regional and Frozen Four sites. Tentatively, Pittsburgh is set to host the 2021 Frozen Four in 2021.

The list includes;

2022 NCAA Regionals: Albany, NY, Allentown, PA, Loveland, CO, and Worcester, MA.

Frozen Four: Boston, MA

2023: Regionals: Allentown, PA, Bridgeport, CT, Fargo, ND, and Manchester, NH.

Frozen Four: Tampa Bay, FL

2024: Regionals: Maryland Heights, MO, Providence, RI, Sioux Falls, SD, and Springfield, MA.

Frozen Four: St. Paul, MN

2025: Regionals: Allentown, PA, Fargo, ND, Manchester, NH, and Toledo, OH.

Frozen Four: St. Louis, MO.

2026: Regionals: Albany, NY, Loveland, CO, Sioux Falls, SD, and Worcester, MA

Frozen Four: Las Vegas, NV

The NCAA also announced two Division-III Semifinals and Finals sites.

2024: Trinity College Hartford, CT Koeppel Community Center, home of the Trinity College Bantams.

2026: Utica, NY, at the Adirondack Bank Center at the Memorial Auditorium home of Utica College Pioneers and the AHL’s Utica Comets.

The WHL has announced it has changed its season-opening date to January 8, 2021, from December 4th.

Players will report to their training camps on December 27th, right after Christmas break. A schedule and conference alignments will be released at a future date.

The status of the four US-based franchises is still to be determined.

The Everett Silvertips, Seattle Thunderbirds, and the Tri-City (Pasco) Americans are all in Washington State, and the Portland (OR) Winter Hawks are in limbo due to the closure mutual consent of the US-Canada border.

Portland has three other issues, the bankruptcy of the team, a selection of a new owner by the league, and major public order problems and air quality from wildfires in Oregon.

UQTR (University of Quebec Trois-Rivieres-OUAA) has announced it will not play at the brand-new Colisee but rather will stay and play at the old Colisee instead.

The yet-to-be granted ECHL team would be the sole tenant in the new building and likely be affiliated with the Montreal Canadiens.

PLAYER MOVEMENT

The Rangers signed two of their restricted free agents.

D-man, Darren Raddysh, signs a one-year, two-way deal paying $700K in the NHL and $80K in the AHL.

Last season, he set personal highs in assists and plus/minus and was the fifth leading scorer on the Hartford Wolf Pack.

The other signee is forward, Gabriel Fontaine, who just completed his Entry-Level Contract (ELC) deal and came off a year that was cut short by a left-shoulder surgery. He gets a one-year, two-way deal paying at $700K in the NHL and $77,500K in the AHL.

The Rangers also signed defenseman Tony DeAngelo, an ex-Pack, making 16 organizational defensemen down slightly from last year’s start of 19.

Raddysh, Vincent LoVerde, and Mason Geersten will be the three AHL vets starting in Hartford. Three players are currently playing in Europe on loan, Yegor Rykov (Russia), Libor Hajek (Czech Republic), Tarmo Reunanen (Sweden), and a fourth, Nils Lundkvist (Sweden). It looks like those four will stay in Europe for this season.

One newcomer, Matt Robertson, falls into a unique category. His deal does not count toward the 50-man total contract requirement.

With Raddysh and Hajak signed, only three players from last year’s Wolf Pack team status are uncertain. Last year’s team captain, Steven Fogarty, and goalie, J.F. Berube, are both UFA’s. Boo Nieves is a Group 6 Free Agent who received no qualifying offer.

Matt Nieto (Salisbury School) departs the Colorado Avalanche and signs a free agent deal with his old team, the San Jose Sharks, where he inked a one-year, one-way $700K deal.

Nolan Patrick, the ex-Hartford Whaler son, and Ranger, James Patrick, signs a one-year, one-way NHL deal with the Philadelphia Flyers as he comes off of his ELC deal, but missed all of last year with migraines gets an $874,125 contract.

The New York Islanders sign Bridgeport Sound Tigers defenseman Parker Wotherspoon to a two-year, two-way deal paying at $700K in the NHL and $100K in the AHL for the first year, and in his second, he will earn $750K for play in the NHL and $125K in the AHL.

The Providence Bruins announced three moves on Wednesday.

They have signed former Ranger, Greg McKegg, to a one-year, two-way deal paying him $700K.

Goalie Callum Booth (Salisbury Prep), who spent most of last year with the Atlanta Gladiators (ECHL) and got some time in Charlotte with the Checkers, gets a major pay raise signing a $700K one-year, one-way deal.

Forward, Jakub Zboril, who is currently on loan and playing for HC Brno (Czech Republic-CEL), gets a handsome two-year, one-way deal paying him $700K the first year $750K in the second.

Charles Hudon from the Laval Rocket contract was finalized with HC Lausanne (Switzerland-LNA). So was the German Dominic Bokk’s loan to Djurgardens IF (Sweden-SHL) by Carolina.

Richard Clune and Tyler Gaudet, two veterans, each sign one-year AHL deals with the Toronto Marlies.

Bokondji Imama signed with the Ontario Reign (Los Angeles Kings) on a one-year, two-way paying $700K in the NHL and $60K in the AHL after finishing his ELC deal.

Goalie, Tyler Parson, signs with the Stockton Heat and gets a contract from the Calgary Flames, a $700K NHL, and $100K-AHL  contract after spending all of last year in Kansas City with the Mavericks (ECHL).

Carolina signs two players destined for their new affiliate, the Chicago Wolves in Dave Gust earning $700K in the NHL and $80K in the AHL for one year. Jeremy Bracco comes off an ELC that was all spent with the Toronto Marlies (AHL). He gets a one-year deal paying $700K in the NHL and $100K in the AHL.

Zack White of Milford signs with the Danbury Hat Tricks (FPHL). He played last year for HC Cholet (France FFHG Division-2).

Josh Victor (CT Oilers-EHL) from Round Rock, Texas, signs a deal with the Macon Mayhem (SPHL). He played for Fayetteville and Quad City (SPHL) last year, but both teams have suspended operations for this season.

Two college goalies have signed pro contracts.

Cale Morris of Note Dame (Big 10) signs with the Rockford IceHogs (AHL) while Adrian Clark graduates from Dartmouth College (ECACHL) and signs with the Florida Everblades (ECHL),

Brett Orr has left Bentley College (AHA) to sign with the South Carolina Stingrays (ECHL). He originally signed a deal with Dundee (Scotland-EIHL), but the league shut down for the 2020-21 season.

Anthony Rinaldi (Kent School), a graduate from Union College (ECACHL), signs with Kansas City (ECHL).

Goalie Matt Jurusik, from Michigan Tech (WCHA), signs with the Idaho Steelheads (ECHL).

After just 33 games and five years of college hockey between Boston University and Michigan (Big 10), Shane Switzer finished his grad transfer year with the Wolverines and signs with Tulsa Oilers (ECHL).

Tyler Penner of Colgate University (ECACHL) signs with the Norfolk Admirals (ECHL).

Penner’s signing makes 177 players from Division-I colleges who’ve signed North American pro deals. There are 308 players in total between Division-I and Division-III have signed pro deals in North America and Europe.

The conference breakdown is; Hockey East-35, NCHC-33, ECACHL has 29, WCHA and the Big 10 each have 28, AHA has 22, and Division-I Independent Arizona State has four.

Vincent Guimond of SUNY-Potsdam (SUNYAC) signs with Fagersta AIK (Sweden Division-2).

79 college players from Division-I and Division-II have signed deals in Europe.

John Farinacci, the nephew of Harvard Head Coach and ex-Wolf Pack and Sound Tiger, Ted Donato, who is presently in the USA WJC Junior Evaluation Camp in Plymouth, Michigan, will stay in the State of Michigan afterward. He is still a junior-eligible and has signed with the Muskegon Lumberjacks (USHL) for this year. He becomes the seventh collegiate player to head to Canadian or American Junior-A hockey taking advantage of the NCAA exception this year as long as they remain enrolled in school, they can play juniors and not lose their NCAA eligibility.

The CIAC has set the standard for winter sports, including ice hockey.

November 21st will be the first practice with all permitted first games starting on December 8th. Out-of-state contests will be permitted.