ECHL says it made “final offer” amid Reading Royals strike talks | Reading Area

READING, Pa. – The ECHL, the minor professional ice hockey league, released a statement on Friday in response to the talks of a possible strike for the Reading Royals.

In the press release, ECHL claims they make its “last, best, and final offer to the Professional Hockey Players’ Association (PHPA).”

The ECHL says they made it clear to union leadership that this was the best offer and that any future offers likely will need to account for losses in revenue attributable to missed games from a player strike.

“An offer that would dramatically raise player salaries by 20 percent in the first year, boost the per-diem rate, guarantee more off days, and expand the top-of-the-line equipment available to players,” the most recent ECHL X post reads.

While the release says they did not receive a formal response from PHPA, ECHL has heard from certain players that they will not be reporting for their scheduled games.

“The longer this goes on, it becomes impossible to play all the games, and so you might see outright game cancellations,” said Larry Miller Jr., managing partner with the Miller Law Group.

“We did everything possible to avoid this outcome, and hope that the union leadership will drop its unworkable scheduling demands, let the players vote on our offer, and make it possible for players to return to work,” reads the end of ECHL’s statement.