[sureLoss]

From Friedman:
http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/3...ames-gaudreau/

Players are entitled to four mandatory days off per month, to be agreed-upon at the beginning of each calendar change. According to Section 16.5 (a) of the agreement, “The parties recognize that events may unfold such that the monthly schedule may need to be altered or modified to adjust for unforeseen and compelling circumstances.”

The key words are the last two. At the time, I specifically asked both the league and the union if a brutal performance counted. Could a coach say, “We were garbage tonight, tomorrow’s day off is cancelled?”

Both sides said, “No, that doesn’t count.” Compelling circumstances were supposed to be things like unforeseen travel problems. Western teams struggle with the rule for a second reason: travel days can’t be used as one of the four. That compresses their practice schedule even more.

Oh man, did coaches complain when they discovered the full impact. Taking away days off due to poor performance is a tried and true strategy, but that arrow was gone from the quiver.