Thank goodness for the judiciary … at least some of the time. When the Western Hockey League teams cried poverty over calls to pay their players at least minimum wage, the province of B.C. couldn’t get over the boards fast enough to exempt the six B.C. teams from having to pay minimum wage. No delay of game penalty here. Big business cries, the B.C. government acts, and quickly. Whew. Crisis averted. Child labour laws are a thing of the ‘30s, after all. But in steps an Alberta judge who has obviously parted ways with his senses and, egad, tells the Albertan WHL teams to show their books if they want to assert, publicly, that paying their players minimum wage will put them in the poor house. Good on the judge. The WHL is big business. Big business. Millions of dollars change hands because of the WHL. That doesn’t mean that every team is awash in cash. We need only look at the plight of the Prince George Cougars during the last few years of the Brodsky era to know that a franchise can be a money-losing operation as easily as it can be a money-maker. There is risk. There’s no doubt about that. And playing players at least the minimum wage isn’t as easy as saying the owners are profiting off the backs of children, which they are, but there are bigger issues at play. Primarily, we have to determine whether being a WHL player is an actual job or are these players volunteering to play a sport that can have huge rewards for them down the road? The fact WHL teams sign players to “standard contracts” indicates it’s more than volunteerism. But should they be thought of as employees? That is a tougher question. There is no doubt that WHL do not think of players as employees, but they do take care of them. They are given a stipend, scholarships, and at least here, the players are billeted out in homes. WHL teams often take on more of a guardianship role for these kids. It is not a stretch to think that if WHL teams have to beging treating their players like employees and pay them minimum wage, then the players would not be given scholarship opporunities and they, or more likely their families, would have to find a place for them to stay. And that, would likely be disastrous. Imagine 15-year-old boys living in apartments by themselves, in a strange town. That is just a recipe for disaster. On the other hand, the teams are profiting, and in some cases, handsomely, from the work and effort of these young players. The wealth needs to be shared. It was not too long ago that Wayne Gretzky made waves with his contract because he demanded so much money. Most said hockey players are not worth that much. However, is was a proven fact that when Gretzky came to town, every town, ticket sales went up in every arena he played in. Hockey players, in some cases, are worth that much. WHL teams are undoubtedly benefiting from the players they bring in. In addition, players benefit with scholarship opporunities, life experience, and a chance of making the bigs, which more than pays for it all. It might be as simple increasing the stipend for players in the WHL. After all, paying overtime for a 10- day road trip through the Prairies would bankrupt anyone. As always, meeting in the middle is the likely solution.