Isaiah DiLola isn't a household name in the hockey world by any stretch of the imagination.
The goaltender appeared in just 54 games over three seasons in the Western Hockey League with Prince George, Portland and Swift Current. His career ended with a three-game stint with the Maryland Black Bears of the North American Hockey League during the COVID-19-shortened 2020-21 season.
However, DiLaura is one of two former junior hockey players named as plaintiffs in a class action lawsuit seeking increased rights and compensation for players in the Canadian Hockey League.
even deeper
Background of the lawsuit seeking expansion of rights and compensation for CHL players
And for the 23-year-old, the decision to publish his name in the lawsuit is not about seeking attention for himself. Instead, DiLaura and his family want to unravel the unfair system that exploits North America's teenage hockey players.
“For me, I tend to think this is a positive change in junior hockey. It shouldn't happen,” DiLaura said in an interview. The Athletic. “The younger generation is just taking advantage of teenagers, so we want to make a change for them.”
“As a parent, how do you support a child who doesn't even understand the process?” said DiLaura's mother, Stephanie. “I learned that this is just a business.”
The lawsuit, filed Feb. 14 in New York federal court, alleges that North America's largest junior hockey system violates U.S. antitrust laws. The lawsuit claims that the current junior system deprives junior players of “freedom of choice, freedom of movement, and freedom to play for the club of their choice, characteristics of a competitive labor market.”
in a statement to The Athletic “We have retained legal counsel and will not be commenting on this ongoing litigation,” the Canadian Hockey League wrote this week.
In DiLaura's case, he first caught the attention of WHL scouts at age 13 while playing minor hockey in Lakeville, Minnesota, and was drafted by the Prince George Cougars in the eighth round of the 2015 WHL Bantam Draft at age 15.
His family eventually realized that there were major hurdles to overcome in order to send DiLora off to pursue his dreams. And since his parents were working full-time and had other family commitments, they had to drop everything and send their son, who was already 17 years old and entering 12th grade, to Canada for the start of a training camp. I did not have the ability to accompany him to his new home. .
“They called me and said, 'Congratulations.' You've been drafted by the Prince George Cougars. I didn't realize how far away it was until I looked it up on a map. This is near Alaska. ” Stephanie said. “He was 17 years old and he was going through this situation on his own. How would he go through customs by himself? He had never been on a plane alone before.”
For DiLaura, it was a 1,700-mile journey from her hometown in Minnesota to Prince George, British Columbia, a 25-hour drive each way if she had traveled by car. He was only allowed one visit each season, around Christmas time, to see his family.
“It was tough,” DiLaura said. “Like any teenager leaving home for the first time, there's definitely a lot of struggle, missing home and feeling homesick.”
It would have been more convenient for DiLaura to play for the Brandon Wheat Kings, which is less than a nine-hour drive from his hometown, but DiLaura was forced to play for the Prince George team that drafted him. It was done. And players from Minnesota are only eligible to be drafted into the Western Hockey League, so playing in Flint of the Ontario Hockey League wasn't an option, although it's a short drive from his hometown. It was 9 hours away.
The lawsuit alleges that the Canadian Hockey League acts as a “cartel” that controls junior players and distributes players to the Western Hockey League, Ontario Hockey League and Quebec Major Junior Hockey League based solely on geography. There is. The player is then subject to an “involuntary draft” in which his CHL rights are retained forever.
Plaintiffs' lawyers are seeking to recalibrate the system by allowing player representation in something similar to collective bargaining agreements that protect individual rights. A recent court decision has ruled in favor of NCAA student-athletes receiving more power and control over compensation and the use of their image and likeness.
“They are children and they need to be protected. They need rules that protect them and keep them informed. The best way to achieve that is to have someone represent them. ,” DiLaura's attorney, Jeffrey Synder, said. “Someone needs to protect children in a comprehensive and systematic way.”
The lawsuit states that NCAA student-athletes have the right to choose their school without being restricted by geography or mandatory military service. And once you choose a school, you can't trade. If your situation worsens, you can choose to transfer to a new school without getting permission from your university.
“By comparison, junior major league players are traded across each league's vast geographic range, and often across national borders, often with little notice and always without any real choice. “This includes before the player turns 18 or without parental consent,” the complaint states.
When DiLaura was traded from Prince George to Portland, he says he had no warning about the deal that would uproot his life.
“It was definitely a shock. It just happened out of nowhere,” DiLaura said. “Where am I going? How am I going to get there? Does my billet family know? It's almost unbelievable.”
This is in stark contrast to the junior hockey club's promise to require consent before trading a teenage player to another team, according to the complaint.
“The club that traded DiLaura did not even pay lip service to the rules prohibiting trading major junior players without consent,” the suit alleges.
After just eight games with his new team in Portland, Oregon, DiLaura was traded again during the 2019-20 season, this time to Swift Current, Saskatchewan.
“The second time was actually more shocking,” DiLaura said. “There was a game that night, and I got traded right after the game. As I was putting my equipment in my locker, my coach called me over. He said to me, You were traded. It was even more of a shock because I was going home at night. So I was shocked and scared. I had to call my parents both times.”
“My mom said to me, 'Are you sure you can keep doing this, just jumping from town to town?'” DiLaura said.
“The reality is you guys are just pawns in this business. You have no input,” Stephanie said. “If you want to play, you have to play their game. But if you don't, you won't be able to play at all. And there's no other choice.”
According to the complaint, each league's rules state that “underage major junior players must consent to a trade.'' Trades are extremely difficult for teenagers who may already be living far from home and in a billet family home. “The trade must be agreed to as it may cause confusion.'' is to graduate from high school while providing full-time hockey service with his club. ”
Stephanie claims she was given no direction regarding the high school graduation process for her 12th grade son. When the season in Prince George ended in April, the family didn't know what to do next. Will DiLaura remain in Canada to finish his final year of high school? Will he try to return to Minnesota to graduate? Will his credit from Canada be transferred back to the U.S.? Ultimately, the family said they had to go through the entire process themselves, without the help of anyone from the hockey team or the WHL. Ta.
“I didn't even know if I was going to graduate,” Stephanie said. “After his season, we re-enrolled him at his alma mater high school. It was a lot of coordination. We got a transcript from Prince George. I never saw his grades at any point in Prince George. there is no.”
DiLaura said his post-secondary education was also thrown into turmoil when he was traded from Portland to Swift Current midway through the 2019-20 season.
“I went to college in Portland and was taking classes there. But as soon as I got traded, I couldn't even think about that anymore,” DiLaura said. “I couldn't do Zoom because it was all face-to-face classes. I didn't have a chance to finish it.”
DiRolla credits WHL with fulfilling its educational promise by paying for his tuition to complete a program to become a certified HVAC technician at a trade school after his active duty career ends.
But DiLaura insists the promise of being treated like a professional athlete with “glam and glamor” never materialized during his three stints in the WHL. Instead, he had to take an excruciatingly long bus ride. When he played in Prince George, his shortest bus trip to a road game was seven and a half hours away. The road trip to Saskatchewan will be a 20-hour ordeal for him over three days.
“It's tough physically and mentally. When you're stuck in a bus with 20-odd guys for 20-odd hours, there's not a lot of space,” DiLaura said. “Physically, you can't stand up and stretch. You try to go to the bathroom at the end of the trip. It gets a little gross at the end.”
As a goaltender who values flexibility, DiLaura said the long bus rides were taxing. Stephanie said she heard that her son was trying to sleep on the floor of the bus.
“I used to get really bad cramps in my arms and legs, so it was definitely hard to stretch,” DiLaura said. “You just want to keep your legs as straight as possible. And it's almost impossible to do that on the bus.”
The lawsuit also alleges that “player compensation in the WHL is fixed at $250 per month.” But Stephanie said the meager scholarship was certainly not enough to cover the expenses of a growing teenager, especially since their son didn't have the ability to take on a part-time job with a demanding junior hockey schedule. It is said to be the body.
“They make it seem as if they're living for free, but that's not the reality. If you want something to eat when your team isn't playing or your billet family isn't cooking you a meal, , he was alone,” Stephanie said. “So I sent him a care package. He gave him a gift card to George's local restaurant. It was a VISA gift card that he could use anywhere.”
DiLaura said the topic of how he and his teammates were being treated rarely came up in the dressing room because the players felt they had no recourse.
“No. We were just told what we had to do,” he said flatly. “There really hasn't been much change.”
Stephanie said she wishes her family had had more information before making the decision to send her son to the WHL to pursue his dream of playing professional hockey, and is glad the case is moving forward. There is. She believes that if they had known about all the obstacles they could face, they would have chosen a different route. She said her family would not welcome the idea of allowing Isaiah's younger brother to play in the WHL.
“When I look back at everything that happened, I really regret it. I regret every moment,” Stefani said. “There are many different paths to reach that dream. I keep looking at the time I lost with my child. I feel really bad for everything he went through. If I knew half of that… If I had, I would have made a different decision.”
(Photo of Isaiah DiLaura playing for the Portland Winterhawks on December 28, 2019: Arika Jenner/Getty Images)
