Maine Mariners to return to ice after brief players’ strike

Photo / Jim Neuger Caden Villegas (no. 17) of the Maine Mariners on defense in the team’s 4-2 loss to the Worcester (Mass.) Railers at Cross Insurance Arena earlier this month. The Mariners were garbed in retro Portland Pirates uniforms to honor their predecessor team.

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By Renee Cordes

After postponing three weekend hockey games during a brief players’ strike, the Maine Mariners are scheduled to return to the ice on New Year’s Eve.

The ECHL minor league and the Professional Hockey Players’ Association announced late Saturday that they had struck a tentative deal on a new collective bargaining agreement.

Promising to share details later, the groups said that players will report to their teams in good faith and prepare to return to play, pending ratification and approval by the league's board of governors and athletes.

Dexter Paine, owner of the Maine Mariners, released a statement Sunday welcoming the accord and apologizing for the disruptions.

“We are pleased that we were able to come to what we feel is a fair agreement for all parties involved with minimal disruption to the season,” he said.

“We realize that we don't get time back: time spent with families at a game during the holidays, time to see friends and while we will reschedule these games, we understand we can't reschedule those memories, and for that we are sorry,” he added.

With 11 wins and eight losses (not including three overtime losses and one shootout loss), the Mainers are currently ninth in their division out of 15 teams.

Upcoming games

Michael Keeley, a spokesman for the Mariners, promised to send details of the rescheduled games as soon as that information is available.

The Mariners are scheduled to play this Wednesday, Dec. 31, in Glens Falls, N.Y., against the Adirondack Thunder, and return to Portland’s Cross Insurance Arena the first weekend of January.

The Mariners are due to host the Adirondack Thunder on Jan. 2 and 3, and the Trois-Rivières Lions of Canada’s Quebec province on Jan. 4.