A year after the Omaha Lancers hockey team faced allegations of scrimping on its players to save money, its league has fined the team $20,000 — ironically for seemingly treating players too well.
The team’s new owner decided to fly the team’s high school-age junior players home from a season-opening tournament instead of putting them through a 28-hour bus ride. That violated a league rule that bars teams from traveling by air, a rule grounded in a belief that flying gives some teams a competitive advantage.
New Lancers owner Michael Picozzi said he decided to fly players home from Pittsburgh in late September after learning that logistical problems with the bus company would extend the return trip. Picozzi said it would have subjected the players “to unnecessary stress and additional missed school days.â€
In a statement from the Lancers, Picozzi offered no apology for his intentional violation of the league rule.
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“At the Omaha Lancers, the mental and physical health of our players is paramount,†he said. “No nonsensical rule or politics can alter our decision-making process when it comes to the well-being of our players.â€
The fine suggests there’s a new sheriff in town when it comes to Lancers ownership — especially in light of the controversy of a year ago.
Under previous ownership last year — when the Lancers came back from the same season-opening tournament in Pittsburgh — the players allegedly were bused 18 hours straight, without stopping overnight or changing drivers.
That was an apparent violation of federal motor carrier safety standards, which limit drivers to no more than 10 hours of driving, and only after they are off duty for eight straight hours.
Sources close to the team alleged to The World-Herald that the bus had not stopped to avoid the cost of lodging the players overnight. One source told the paper that 13 hours into the long bus drive, an assistant coach and trainer were talking to the driver to keep her awake, though she assured them she was fine.
The league later acknowledged the long bus ride but sought to blame the bus company for the failure to stop.
The bus trip was part of controversy swirling around the Lancers a year ago. The turmoil included multiple coach resignations, a weekend boycott by players and a league investigation of budget constraints and mistreatment of players.
The World-Herald reported that as COVID-19 cut home attendance and gate revenue, the team began slashing costs to save money, including making players pay for some of their own meals and equipment. That allegedly violated league standards of providing for the needs of players.
“As the revenues went down, it was cut, cut, cut, cut to show the shareholders we were still doing OK,†one former Lancers staffer said. “The business side of the team was broken.â€
The USHL dismissed the allegations against Lancers leadership. It issued a report in January saying that standards of player treatment weren’t violated and that cost-cutting issues with the team were “exaggerated.â€
The league also concluded that the long bus trip was the fault of the bus company, despite the presence of Lancers personnel on the bus who presumably were responsible for the well-being of their young players.
“Reports suggesting that the overtime driving of the bus from Pittsburgh to Omaha was attributable to the Lancers trying to cut costs was false,†the league’s report concluded.
However, within weeks of the allegations, the team’s president no longer was with the team, and Picozzi subsequently replaced Anthony “Koots†DiCesare as the Lancers’ majority owner.
The USHL rule barring air travel had been passed four or five years ago after the Lancers and another team flew to and from the USHL Fall Classic, the tournament for all league teams that has become the season-opener for the league. Some teams felt flying would give teams that could afford to do so a competitive advantage in terms of both travel and recruitment of players.
As the Lancers were preparing to travel to the tournament again this fall, the Lancers’ bus company told them that it could not provide a relay driver or a sleep-in bus for the return trip to Omaha. As a result, the return trip would take 28 hours.
With the Lancers playing the last game in the tournament on Sunday night, it would have meant a two-day return trip and almost no time to rest and prepare for another road game the next Friday. All the travel would have conversely left the Lancers at a competitive disadvantage in their next game, said Nick Blaesser, the team’s director of media relations.
In light of these “extenuating circumstances,†Picozzi reached out to USHL Commissioner Bill Robertson for relief from a USHL league rule that punished teams for traveling by plane, the team said. It was denied, with the commissioner citing the rule.
Picozzi decided that because he felt it would provide the team no competitive advantage, he would fly the Lancers home, despite the league’s decision. The USHL responded days later by fining the Lancers $20,000. Picozzi appealed the fine, but it was upheld in October.
The league did not announce the fine, but the Lancers disclosed it in a press release Monday afternoon. Lancers officials said Tuesday that the team decided to do so to show they were doing right by their players and in hopes of showing the league the rule needs to be changed.
“We want everyone to realize we want our players to have the best chance of winning, as well as be as safe as possible,†said Christian Cuozzo, a senior director with the team.
A USHL official said Tuesday that player safety is indeed a league priority, citing for example that the league cancels games to keep teams from traveling in inclement winter weather.
The league official said it also has offered to revisit the no-fly rule. But up to this point, the Lancers have not indicated they plan to seek a change.
Picozzi said in the Lancers statement that he thinks the USHL commissioner and league executive committee made “blind adherence to a senseless rule†more important than the players.
“While we disagree with the league’s position, we accept it and are ready to move on,†he said. “However, hopefully the USHL will revisit this rule, which, in my opinion, is harming players.â€