Having endured a pair of work stoppages that canceled the entire 2004-05 season and part of the 2012-13 campaign as an NHL player, Pittsburgh Penguins assistant general manager Jason Spezza is certain of one axiom when it comes to labor disputes in hockey.
“Never a good time for any sort of work stoppage,” said Spezza, a two-time NHL All-Star. “For any of the players.”
One of those times is unfolding in the present at the ECHL level as players, under the guidance of the Professional Hockey Players Association (PHPA), have gone on strike while seeking a new contract.
At dispute are several factors, including universally understandable items such as pay and insurance. The ECHL and PHPA are also at odds over guidelines for travel, holiday breaks and equipment.
With discussions largely at a stalemate, at least publicly, the ECHL began postponing games Friday.
For the Wheeling Nailers, the Penguins’ ECHL affiliate, a road contest against the Toledo Walleye (Friday) and a pair of home games against the Indy Fuel (Saturday) and Cincinnati Cyclones (Sunday) have been postponed indefinitely.
With the strike formally beginning Friday, the Penguins promoted 11 players from Wheeling to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League (AHL). That group includes:
Forwards: Matty De St. Phalle, Brayden Edwards, Max Graham, Connor Lockhart, Zach Urdahl
Defensemen: David Breazeale, Tommy Budnick, Brent Johnson, Emil Pieniniemi
Goaltenders: Taylor Gauthier, Maxim Pavelenko
Of that group, only Pieniniemi is signed to an NHL contract. The other 10 are inked to AHL deals.
All players on strike are signed to ECHL contracts.
While they were formally transferred to the AHL club Friday, they will physically report to the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex in Cranberry to practice, according to Spezza.
Gauthier is an exception as he has been loaned to Hockey Canada for the Spengler Cup, an international tournament held in Davos, Switzerland. That event began Friday and is scheduled to conclude Wednesday.
Nailers coach Ryan Papaioannoua and other staffers who are contracted employees of the Penguins, will oversee the practices in Cranberry.
In his first season with the club, Papaioannou has guided the Nailers to a 20-6-1-0 record and a league-best 41 points.
Given that Wheeling and Cranberry are roughly 70 minutes away by car (as opposed to the five-and-a-half-hour trek between Wheeling and Wilkes-Barre), the logistics of having that group report to Western Pennsylvania were practical.
Also, having 37 players present for practice with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins wouldn’t be beneficial.
“I didn’t want to bring them directly to (Wilkes-Barre/Scranton) because it (the strike) may be short-lived,” said Spezza, who functions as general manager of the AHL Penguins. “If it’s not short-lived, we’ll reevaluate what the best plan is. But right now, the biggest focus for our contracted guys is that they’re not stunting their development during this time.”
The timing of the strike isn’t particularly convenient for Pieniniemi, who has not played a game of consequence since late April, when he skated at the junior level for the Kingston Frontenacs of the Ontario Hockey League.
A third-round draft pick (No. 91 overall) of the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2023, Pieniniemi was suspended by the team for the first two-plus months of this season after refusing to report to Wheeling over a dispute regarding his development plan with management.
The parties eventually reached an agreement and Pieniniemi — who is in the first year of a three-year entry-level contract — agreed to report to Wheeling earlier this month. Management’s plan was for him to practice a bit with the Nailers and regain his conditioning before making his ECHL debut after Christmas.
Those designs have clearly been altered to some extent.
“It’s unfortunate for all the guys,” Spezza said. “I don’t think Emil is any different. The other guys have been playing and they obviously want to continue having a positive season in Wheeling. With Emil, this will give him time to get integrated through practice and get to know his teammates and get up and rolling.”
