Maine Mariners cancel weekend hockey games amid strike

Fish-eye lens views of hockey game at Cross Insurance Arena

Photo / Jim Neuger The Maine Mariners, garbed in retro Portland Pirates uniforms at Cross Insurance Arena on Dec. 13, lost 4-2 to the Worcester (Mass.) Railers.

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By Renee Cordes

The Maine Mariners hockey team canceled its home games in Portland this weekend and warned that additional games could be called off amid a players’ strike over the terms of a collective bargaining agreement with the ECHL minor league.

The team, an affiliate of the top-tier Boston Bruins and second-tier Providence (R.I.) Bruins, had been scheduled to host the Worcester (Mass.) Railers on Friday and Canada’s Trois-Rivières Lions Saturday at Cross Insurance Arena in Portland.

Both games were postponed due to a strike by the Professional Hockey Players’ Association, the team said in a joint statement with the ECHL emailed hours before Friday’s scheduled puck drop.

“The union’s decision to force our players to stop working means that we have to postpone this weekend’s Maine Mariners home games,” the statement said.

“This could also result in the postponement or rescheduling of additional games, and we will be in direct communication with our fans and supporters as soon as practicable if that is the case, but know that we’re working to have a team on the ice for our next regularly scheduled home game,” it continued.

The Shrewsbury, N.J.-based ECHL, originally known as the East Coast Hockey League, released a separate statement about the breakdown in talks with hockey players.

“Unfortunately, union leaders deprived players of the opportunity to vote on our last, best, and final offer — an offer that would dramatically raise player salaries by 20% 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 league noted.

“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.”

In a statement earlier this week, PHPA Executive Director Brian Ramsey criticized the league's lack of response to an offer to settle the dispute through mediation or arbitration to avoid missed games.

After this weekend, the Mariners' next scheduled home stand is the weekend of Jan. 2.