Road to the NHL Passes Through Niagara Falls

By Darryl Dionne  Published on: Wednesday August 18, 2010

The road to the NHL now passes through Niagara Falls, Ontario. The Professional Hockey Players’ Association (PHPA) has relocated it’s headquarters from St.Catharines, Ontario, Canada into a re-designed, state-of-the-art office facility at one of the highest traffic intersections in the city of Niagara Falls.

The PHPA is the players’ union for all professional hockey players in the American Hockey League (AHL), ECHL (formerly the East Coast Hockey League), and Central Hockey League. As the only Players’ Association for development league players within a major league sport, the PHPA is one of the largest and oldest Players’ Associations within the professional sports industry boasting over 1,600 Members situated across 67 teams throughout North America. Given that approximately 85% of current NHL players have spent some time in the American Hockey League, there is no question that the PHPA plays a significant role on the hockey landscape.

Although autonomous from the National Hockey League Players’ Association, a number of issues spelled out in the NHL-NHLPA Collective Bargaining Agreement affect players in the development system, and vice versa given the amount of player movement between the various Leagues and levels of the sport.

Players such as Martin Brodeur, Jason Spezza, Ryan Miller, Zdeno Chara, Eric Staal, Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry, Marc-Andre Fleury, Roberto Luongo, Zach Parise as well as former Niagara Falls Flyers Steve Ludzik, Steve Larmer, and home-grown talents Ryan and Colin Pepperall, Matt Masterson, Frank Pietrangelo, Jim Bedard, and (current Hamilton Bulldog) Mike Glumac have all come through the AHL, and whose rights were represented and protected by the PHPA.

The primary function of the PHPA is to negotiate Player benefits by way of a Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). While all three leagues have a separate and distinct CBA, all Members of the PHPA enjoy health and welfare benefits, training camp allowances, travel and trade relocation expenses, daily per diem (meal money), housing allowances, play-off shares, licensing rights, and a Membership Assistance Program.

In an effort to further promote and sustain the PHPA’s vision of delivering high-quality support and guidance to Members and their families, the Association has established a Players’ Only Website, a Career Enhancement Program, a Workers’ Compensation Panel of Attorneys, a Registered Agents program, an Alumni Association, developed a licensing program, as well as various marketing partnerships.

The PHPA, which has been in operation since 1967, came to Southern Ontario when Niagara Falls-born Larry Landon was named PHPA Executive Director in 1993. Landon, who last December was named to the Top 100 People of Influence in the hockey industry by The Hockey News has been at the helm of the Players’ Association ever since. “The PHPA was operating out of the law offices of Curt Leichner (former PHPA Executive Director) in Portland, Oregon, as the PHPA initially represented players in the old Western Hockey League,” recounted Landon. “When Curt retired, and I was named Executive Director, I moved back to my home town and began running the Association out of my basement until a permanent location could be found. We ended up in downtown St.Catharines, Ontario, where we were situated within an hour of Toronto and Buffalo, as well as within close proximity to a number of our teams which at the time were based out east.”

Now, in it’s new location at 3964 Portage Road at the 5-corners intersection of Niagara Falls, the PHPA has invigorated the corner with a complete make-over of an old office building both inside and out. The exterior of the building features a new “Home of the PHPA” sign on the front lawn including a ticker-tape signage feature. The Techo-Bloc stone along the bottom third of the building was provided by Niagara Block, while the windows were supplied by Regional Glass & Mirror.

The interior of the building has been reconfigured and wired for the latest in office technology including teleconferencing capabilities for interactive team and Executive Committee meetings, new phone systems, security features, electronic storage of player files, and other office features.

“We certainly went for a local flavor when determining who had the business of working on the building, from the architect firm of Raimondo and Associates to Shoalts Brothers Construction Company who served as the General Contractor,” said Landon. “That was important to us, and to the credit of many local businesses, we couldn’t be happier with the professionalism and sheer quality of service.”

“PHPA Members can be proud to know the PHPA has a permanent home. The staff are excited to move in and become part of the Niagara Falls community”, said Landon. “On behalf of all past, present, and future Members, I would like to thank all those who worked on the new building in any capacity. The PHPA looks forward to many successful years as a cornerstone in the Niagara region.”