The Professional Hockey Players’ Association’s (PHPA) Annual Meeting of Player Representatives is much more than just a 4-day series of presentations by PHPA staff mixed in with a hospitality suite, golf tournament, and reception banquet with afternoons clear for players to lounge by the pool.

Rather, it’s an opportunity for 58 PHPA Player Representatives who have been elected by their teammates, who have battled against each other all season long on the ice, to come together off the ice along with their families to discuss and recommend solutions to hot button issues that impact players at all levels of the sport, and ultimately help leave a lasting legacy on the game.

In fact, some notable names who at one point or another attended the PHPA Annual Meeting as players include Ken Holland, Kevin Cheveldayoff, Mathieu Darche, Ted Nolan, Claude Julien, Brad Treliving, George Parros, Dan Bylsma, Jeff Daniels, and well over a thousand others since the Association was formed in 1967.  They not only helped shape the hockey landscape when they were players, but now do so at the game’s highest level. 

This year’s PHPA Annual Meeting event will take place at the Wyndham Lake Buena Vista Disney Springs Resort in Orlando, Florida from June 17th to 21^st and will feature several new and innovative topics and presentations.  The meetings also come at a key point this off-season which will involve negotiations towards a successor collective bargaining agreement with the American Hockey League.  The current agreement expires August 31, 2019.

On the opening day of meetings, Player Reps will hear presentations from Executive Director Larry Landon, a representative from the PHPA Executive Committee, Hockey Operations staff to discuss common areas of concern and highlight significant cases that occurred throughout the season.  On the business side, players are provided an in-depth overview of the Association’s audited financial reports as well as a re-cap of the PHPA business operations from the past year including key sponsorship and licensing programs, a PHPA Visa card program through Meridian, plus new and enhanced communications initiatives.

A number of regular presenters who are always well embraced by attendees will be back again this year including Mark Paluczak from BDO International who provides tax advice for professional athletes, expert immigration attorney Joe Kirkwood, as well as a panel discussion on workers’ compensation including representatives from the NFLPA, along with five members of the PHPA Workers’ Compensation Panel of Attorneys.

This year’s meetings though will feature some new elements, including a much anticipated Yoga Experience provided by Lululemon which is open to all players, spouses, children, and guests.

Former PHPA Member and Principal at M Style Marketing Rob Striar helped launch the PHPA Alumni Network this past fall and will provide an update on the success and reach this initiative has had on not only its 7,600+ Alumni Members who are in regular communication with the PHPA, but the benefits the Alumni Network can also provide to current players.

The PHPA Career Enhancement Program, arguably the Association’s most popular non-collectively bargained player program, has seen significant growth in the past year thanks in part to new program Coordinator, Steve Carney, who along with representatives from Athabasca University, Endicott College, and the unveiling of new partnerships with Oregon State University and Coldwell Banker will present on new continuing education programs for both current and former players (which has also been extended to include spouses and children), as well as the Sticks to Bricks initiative to help players transition to a post hockey career in the building trades.

Tidal Health Solutions, a medical marijuana company who presented research at last year’s Annual Meeting, will be back to outline a unique research program with PHPA Members which will be the first of its kind in professional sports.

Perhaps the most unique point during the meetings features Year in Review presentations by ECHL Commissioner Ryan Crelin and American Hockey League President Dave Andrews, who  following an election for open positions on the Executive Committee, divide into closed-door breakout sessions with their respective league’s players where any and all topics are open for discussion.  In fact, many ideas brought forth by players during these breakout sessions have been implemented at the league level.

Outside of the meeting rooms, attendees are invited to take part in the annual PHPA Golf Outing Presented by BFL CANADA Risk and Insurance Services, Inc. at the Waldorf Astoria Golf Course where all club rentals are complimentary courtesy of Sutton Special Risk.

The Annual Meeting concludes with a Closing Banquet where the PHPA will recognize Archie Henderson as the 2019 recipient of the Executive Director’s Honouring the Past Award, as well as Glenn Patrick who was voted by the Executive Committee as the 2019 recipient of the PHPA Curt Leichner Distinguished Member Award.  The evening is capped off by a performance that must be seen to be believed from world renowned hypnotist Danny Zzzz!

The PHPA sincerely thanks each and every one of its Presenting Partners including Meridian, M Style Marketing, BFL CANADA, Meritain Health, Insurance Office of America (IOA), Sutton Special Risk, the NHLPA, Endicott College, BDO International, LifeWorks, Programmed Insurance Brokers, and each golf hole sponsor for their support, allowing the PHPA to host a professional and informative meeting experience, while helping shape the current and future landscape of professional hockey.