The NHL is looking into a potential violation of the collective bargaining agreement by the Dallas Stars for holding an optional practice during the league’s holiday break.
Stars coach Pete DeBoer told reporters Friday morning, in advance of that night’s game against the Minnesota Wild, “I was at the rink yesterday. We had an optional, and of course the young guys all show up for the optional like, you know, they’re supposed to do.”
He even elaborated by naming the young players he saw at the rink.
According to Article 16.5 (b) of the CBA, “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.”
An NHL official told The Athletic Saturday morning that the league is looking into the facts of what happened. The question seemed to be whether this was an actual “optional practice,” with coaches involved, or if DeBoer, who is in his 17th season as an NHL head coach, had misspoken and the Stars just had ice available to any player who wanted it.
In the NHL, “optional” practices include coaches and are generally considered mandatory for young players, as DeBoer intimated in saying that they were “supposed” to be there.
Update 4:51 p.m. CT: Later Saturday, sources from multiple NHL teams provided The Athletic with a memo dated Dec. 23 in which NHL senior executive vice president Colin Campbell reminded all 32 general managers that “no travel or ice time can be provided by our teams.” So regardless of how “optional” the practice was, the league had mandated it not happen.
A Stars spokesperson told The Athletic, “The team is conducting an internal investigation into the matter and is fully cooperating with the NHL.” The NHL Players’ Association had no immediate comment.
The Wild, who rallied from 2-0 down in the third period of the game before winning in overtime, were not pleased when they learned that the Stars had possibly practiced on Thursday’s mandatory off day. Wild president of hockey operations and general manager Bill Guerin got wind of DeBoer’s comments during the third period.
Wild coach John Hynes said after Saturday’s practice in St. Paul that he didn’t hear about the Stars practice until after the game Friday, when it became a discussion amongst the Wild staff. He said he’d give DeBoer the benefit of the doubt and wondered if he misspoke and that ice was just available and no one was there.
Asked if he’d be upset if the Stars knowingly broke the rules, Hynes said, “Obviously the rules are in place for a reason. The league is so competitive and so tight in terms of the schedule, you’d like everyone on an even playing field. The rules are the rules, right? But, again, I don’t know exactly what he meant. I’ve got a lot of respect for Pete, so I would lend myself to think that maybe he made a mistake.”
The Wild abided by the CBA and had players wake up in Minnesota bright and early Friday morning. Players and staff had to be at the airport by 7 a.m. for a 2 1/2 hour flight to Dallas’ Love Field ahead of the 7 p.m. game.
The Stars, who could face a steep fine if the league deems they broke the rules, posted pregame access videos of select players to their website Friday but not DeBoer’s news conference, as they typically do.
In 2022, the Toronto Maple Leafs were fined $100,000 for flying to St. Louis the night before the holiday break concluded. In 2015, the Philadelphia Flyers were fined the same amount for flying earlier than permitted for a game in Nashville.
(Photo of Pete DeBoer on the Stars bench: Jerome Miron / USA Today)
