Fonteyne back and a look at the CHL/WHL wage situation

Published 1:30 am Tuesday, November 1, 2016

Everett Silvertips alternate captain Matt Fonteyne was off to a torrid start this season as the center had eight points as Everett won six of its first seven games.

Then Fonteyne suffered a shoulder injury during Everett’s win at Prince George on Oct. 11 and missed the Tips’ last eight contests. Fonteyne has skated in full contact practice the past two days and hopes to take the ice this week when the Tips play host to Red Deer and Portland.

“I think I’m good to go,” Fonteyne said. “I felt pretty good on the ice so I’ll talk with the coaches and see what they say.”

Fonteyne said it was the first major injury he’s suffered in his career. He traveled with the the team on its most recent road trip to Spokane, Kelowna and Victoria, but did not play.

“I thought I’d be back a lot sooner,” he said. “I didn’t really think it was as bad as it was, so yeah. But still going on the trip I wanted to help the boys out any way I could just kind of being a cheerleader.”

The Red Deer Rebels are Everett’s Wednesday opponent and Red Deer is about 65 miles from Fonteyne’s hometown of Wetaskiwin, Alberta.

“I went and watched them a couple times, but growing up I didn’t know too much about the (WHL) to be honest with you,” Fonteyne said. “I watched a couple Edmonton Oil King games and a couple Red Deer games, but whenever you’re playing a team (from) close to home you want to beat them.”

The Rebels have fellow Wetaskiwin native Evan Polei on their roster as well as Jared Freadrich from nearby Camrose. Freadrich and Fonteyne work out together in the summer.

In other news:

– You may have been following recent developments in major junior hockey the past two weeks. They relate to a class action lawsuit by CHL players looking for financial compensation, the British Columbia government in February deciding the players of the province’s six WHL teams are student-athletes rather than employees and therefore not entitled to minimum wage, and a ruling late last week by an Alberta judge that orders the CHL, as well as the WHL and OHL franchises to produce tax returns and financial statements dating back to 2011 to determine how many teams are actually making money as opposed to losing money.

There is a lot going on here with many moving parts and I don’t pretend to be an expert in labor law that includes numerous states and provinces in two different countries across three different leagues that make up the Canadian Hockey League. Plus, much of this goes back to before I was covering the WHL, including an attempt to unionize CHL players in 2012.

I think the best thing I can do is post the pertinent links I can find and let you sort through them, and I’ll attempt to do in somewhat chronological order:

– In May 2015 Washington Gov. Jay Inslee signed a bill that classified the players on the state’s four WHL teams as student-athletes rather than employees, and exempted them from being paid minimum wage.

– A class action lawsuit against the CHL by former players was originally filed in 2014, but has yet to be certified. The gist is that players believe the CHL franchises are for-profit enterprises and players are entitled to fair compensation. The CHL – particularly WHL commissioner Ron Robison – has pleaded poverty and said that a number of franchises would be forced to fold if they had to pay players minimum wage.

– Two weeks ago the Vancouver Sun learned through a FOIA request that the B.C. government passed a cabinet order in February to exempt the the province’s six WHL teams from having to pay players minimum wage. There is also this article that looks at the potential face of the class action suit.

– Then last week, a twist: Late Friday TSN reported that an Alberta judge had ordered the CHL and the 42 WHL and OHL franchises to open their books to determine profitability. Sportsnet also had this take, while Gregg Drinnan over at Taking Note had some thoughts as well.

So that’s the crux of the issue as best I understand it. It’s a lot to sort through and I’d encourage you to delve into the articles to get a better sense of what’s going on. Again, I’m no expert in any of this, but it’s definitely relevant for fans of the WHL and the Silvertips.

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