Saturday, June 20, 2020

Notebook: New class action looming

A month after settling a class action lawsuit, the Canadian Hockey League is facing another legal threat.

Former OHLer Daniel Carcillo along with WHL alumnus Garrett Taylor filed a class action lawsuit against the CHL this past week in regards to alleged hazing, bullying and abuse from teammates and staff members.
The Hockey News detailed the disturbing allegations.

TSN's Rick Westhead notes that "the filing doesn’t specify what sort of damages the plaintiffs are seeking." Just last month, the CHL settled the lengthy minimum wage class action, which resulted in each team reportedly needing to pay approximately $250,000 in damages.

In the statement of claim, Carcillo details a number of disturbing events that took place while he was a rookie with the Sarnia Sting in 2002-03. Carcillo ended his junior career by appearing in 20 regular season and five playoff games with the Mississauga IceDogs in 2004-05 - a team coached by Greg Gilbert. There was no mention of any wrong doings by the IceDogs in the filing.

RICHARD STILL BEAR BOUND
Guillaume Richard remains committed to the University of Maine.

The 17-year-old defenseman, who the Saint John Sea Dogs selected in the fourth-round of this year's QMJHL Entry Draft, confirmed to le Journal de Quebec that he intends to play in the United States this coming season ahead of joining Maine in 2021-22.

Richard spent last season in the US, which included appearances in five USHL games with the Tri-City Storm.

Things could always change - especially given everything that's going on right now - but Richard told the newspaper that if he were to report to the QMJHL, it probably would have happened last year when the Victoriaville Tigres drafted him in the opening round. But... we'll see what happens over the next few months and years.

Sea Dogs assistant general manager and head scout Anthony Stella called Richard "a sign at all costs type player."

"One of the top players from last year's draft," Stella recently wrote in a draft recap submitted to Station Nation. "In the fourth-round it was a no-brainer to take a shot at him. He can play big minutes for us today and should be a prospect for the NHL Draft next year."

BREEN ALSO BEAR BOUND
Another Sea Dogs drafted player who remains committed to Maine: Lynden Breen.

Breen, a Grand Bay-Westfield native, was drafted in the fifth-round by Saint John at the 2017 QMJHL Entry Draft - a draft that place at Harbour Station.

The 19-year-old has spent the past two seasons in the USHL, which included a very solid 18 goals and 30 assists in 45 games with the Fargo Force last season.

Despite the school's proximity to the Maritimes, Maine hasn't had many Atlantic Canadians on its roster in recent years. Last year, forward Adam Dawe of Gander, NL, a 2015 draft pack of the Moncton Wildcats, was the only Atlantic Canadian on the roster.

POIRIER TO MCGILL
Former Sea Dogs forward William Poirier has committed to the McGill Redmen for the upcoming season. He'll join two of his former Sea Dogs teammates at McGill: defenseman Michael Campoli and forward Anthony Boucher, both of whom were freshman with the Redmen last season.
Poirier spent the 2019-20 season with the BCHL's Salmon Arm Silverbacks, recording 23 goals and 18 assists in 51 games.

Poirier, who will turn 21 in November, spent two seasons in Saint John.

SPECTRA TALK
Last week on CBC Radio's Information Morning, Bregje Kozak, the Director of Recreation and Facilities for the City of Penticton joined the show. Penticton has been been working with Spectra, the company looking to lease and operate TD Station, since 2009.

A few takeaways from the interview:
  • Spectra has an "operation management agreement" with Penticton, meaning the city still owns the facilities but the buildings are operated by Spectra. Spectra manages four facilities in the city - including the 4,700-seat South Okanagan Events Centre.
  • Kozak said since 2013, Spectra has grown Penticton's event portfolio from around 150 events annually to 250, including a number of "big city events" that often take place in Vancouver (note that Spectra operates the city's trade and convention centre, which presumably gets more traffic than the arena).
  • Kozak confirmed Spectra has lowered the operating deficits of the four buildings, which is a key factor in a potential agreement with Saint John. Since 2013, the deficits have lowered by roughly 10%, said Kozak.
  • Kozak specifically mentioned that the agreement has worked well for Penticton because of the general manager - a Spectra employee - the company has put in place.

MHL DRAFT
In last Saturday's MHL Draft, two Sea Dogs prospects were selected by the Grand Falls Rapids. Forward Simon Hughes was selected in the sixth-round while defenseman Hunter Gartley was taken in the ninth-round, respectively. Both players were drafted by the Sea Dogs in this year's QMJHL Entry Draft.

20-year-old defenseman Tyler Hungerbuhler, who appeared in 24 games with the Sea Dogs in 2017-18, had his playing rights selected by the South Shore Lumberjacks in the MHL's QMJHL Supplemental Draft. Hungerbuhler has played in the QJAAAHL the past few seasons.

Sea Dogs defenseman Christopher Inniss' MHL rights were acquired by the Valley Wildcats.

Lastly, former Sea Dogs goaltender Tommy DaSilva had his MHL rights acquired by the Yarmouth Mariners.

ROUGH OFF-SEASON
It has been a rough off-season for Neulion, who has been the QMJHL's webcast provider for a number of years. Just days after news publicly came out that the CHL would have a new webcast service for the upcoming season, it seems the ECHL is also moving on from Neulion.
Neulion has also reportedly been dumped by the SPHL, who will use HockeyTV this season. HockeyTV has the rights to most junior A leagues in Canada and the USHL.

GILBERT PICS
A quick search on Getty Images shows that Greg Gilbert has lived a full hockey life. Here's a few of our favourites:
Embed from Getty Images
Embed from Getty Images
Embed from Getty Images
Gilbert will be a guest on the Sea Dogs' Monday Night Mic'd this week.
Posted by at
Labels: , , , , , , ,

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)