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Why work when you can play? UHL players might not get rich playing minor league hockey, but hey, it sure beats working for a living

Hockey Digest, April, 2002 by Paul Post

FOR SCOTT FEASBY, LIFE AFTER hockey means working on his father's dairy farm north of Toronto.

He's not necessarily dreading it, but he's in no rush to get there either. That's why he's trying to squeeze as many years out of his United Hockey League career that his 30-year-old body will let him.

Like most players at the Double-A level, Feasby has to work during the offseason to make ends meet. The UHL has a hard salary cap of $250,000 per year, meaning weekly paychecks range anywhere from $300 to $1,200 during the 25-week season.

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For younger players, the sacrifice is worth it because they're still chasing the dream of making it to the next level. For veterans such as Feasby, the UHL is almost like vacation compared to the dawn-to-midnight rigors of dairy farming or working 940-5 in the "real world."

"What better job can you have coming to work a couple of hours a day?" says Feasby, team captain of the Muskegon Fury. "Yeah, you take some bumps and bruises. But overall you have a lot of time to relax. The bottom line is you're having fun.

"When you've played since you're five years old and have played at this level for so long, it's hard to give it up, too. You have that itch to get at it each year, you want to win each night."

Feasby's fortunate that he's got a secure future awaiting him. "Our farm's expanding every year," he says. "I don't get many days off in the summer. Most people in Muskegon know that. They know I'm glad to be back to have some fun."

The most attractive part about UHL life is that teams are required to pay their players' housing costs. After shelter, the most important thing athlete's worry about is staying well fed.

"Usually you go grocery shopping from day to day, because sometimes you're only home for a day or two," says the Knoxville Speed's Craig Desjarlais. "You can't go shopping for food that's going to expire when you go on the road for two weeks. So we make almost daily trips to Kroger."

Single players typically share apartments and Desjarlais has a good working arrangement with teammate Casey Burnette. "He's been doing the cooking, doing our pregame meals when we're at home. I've been fortunate because I'm not the best cook in the world. So far he's cooked some great meals, so I can't complain," he says.

By now, Desjarlais has probably sampled Burnette's chicken-and-pasta specialty at least 30 times. That's why he also keeps an eye out for special deals at Knoxville-area restaurants.

"If you're going out to eat, you might as well go to a place where your team has a 50%-off deal," he says. "You can always save money that way as opposed to going to some steakhouse and spending $30 for a meal. You've just got to use your money wisely. It's not like we're bankrupt here. We make enough money to survive and have a good time."

The B.C. Icemen's Glendon Cominetti saves a few dollars by only eating twice on game days. "Once right after practice and then a pregame meal. I go to a buffet in the afternoons so I don't have to eat dinner," he says with a smile. "Actually I eat at home a lot. You learn how to shop."

Teams also give players $25 for meal money when they're on the road. Adirondack IceHawks coach Gates Orlando knows that guys making $300 per week might pocket some of that money. Instead of cash, he simply picks up the team's restaurant tabs. That way he doesn't have to worry about players collapsing from lack of energy in the middle of a game.

"If you go on the road and give them envelopes of $25 each, who knows who's going to eat?" Orlando says. "This way, if I control the meal, I know they're all eating. You don't have to give them cash. We can pay, so long as it's a simple meal. We've always treated the guys pretty good."

Orlando, who had an extensive pro career Rat included three years in the NHL and several seasons in pro leagues in Italy and Switzerland, never had to worry much about financial security. However, he knows from experience that minor league life at any level isn't really easy.

"I've heard stories about guys turning the heat down, watching TV in their warm jackets," he says. "Our top players are making good money, but they're not getting rich. What keeps them going is that they still enjoy playing. It's their love for the game, their passion. It's a good lifestyle for six months. They can actually do something they enjoy and get compensated fairly well.

"The other six months they work as a regular person."

Finding a decent-paying summer job is one of a UHL player's greatest challenges. The list is almost endless: construction, landscaping, waiter, even car sales.

"You just can't afford not to work in the summer time," says Muskegon's Dean Mayrand. "You have to work very hard. You're working to earn money, then you're working on conditioning and hockey, also, because you want to make it to the next level. It takes a lot of time during the summer.

"I train hard during the offseason. That's not cheap, either. It costs $10-per-hour for ice time and I box, too, and that costs a little money." As an Ontario resident, Mayrand benefits from the U.S.-Canadian currency rate. "American money transfers into a lot more. I send 8100 home every week and that's $150 Canadian, so that does help out," he says.

Why work when you can play? UHL players might not get rich playing minor league hockey, but hey, it sure beats working for a living

Hockey Digest, April, 2002 by Paul Post

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