For every wealthy and well-known member of the Washington Capitals, there is a little-known employee whose hard work behind the scenes is critical to the operation of the franchise. For every Ted Leonsis or Olie Kolzig, there is an Alex Walker or a Todd Warren.
They are the trainers, equipment managers and massage therapists, public-relations directors, sales managers and marketing specialists who make the franchise operate smoothly, and they are the ones caught in the crossfire as the NHL’s owners and players move toward a work stoppage next season.
The league’s collective bargaining agreement with the players expires Sept.15. Management and the players’ union are far apart in negotiations, and the owners are expected to lock out the players before next season.
The club owners are millionaires, and so is the average player; they can afford to go for months without their usual income. That is not the case with the average Caps employee, none of whom know if or for how long he or she will be paid if a lockout occurs.
“Of course I’m worried,” Walker said. “Who’s going to hire a 78-year-old man? All these millionaires fighting about money, and they don’t think about people like me.”
Walker answers the phones at the Caps’ Piney Orchard practice facility. If there are no players on the ice or coaches watching video, there is no work for Walker to do. A lockout would mean a huge cut in income for the St. Louis native, who gets by on Social Security and his nine-month salary from the Caps (he has summers off).
A few teams have assured their employees that they’ll be paid during what could be a lengthy lockout. Caps general manager George McPhee plans to begin meeting with employees Tuesday, two days after the team’s season finale in Pittsburgh. Until then, they have to take majority owner Leonsis at his word.
“Throughout our ownership, we’ve been very fair and good to people,” Leonsis said. “We haven’t announced what we’re going to do. We’re working on models depending on how long there’s no hockey. We would err on the side of being generous.”
Warren, 37, is the Caps’ director of team services. He is the guy who makes sure the hotel rooms are reserved, the airplanes chartered and the buses to and from the arenas run on time. If a player is traded to the Caps or is sent down to or called up from the team’s Portland (Maine) affiliate, Warren makes the travel plans.
In his typical, organized fashion, Warren for months has been putting aside money from his paychecks in anticipation of the lockout. For that reason, he doesn’t expect to endure serious financial hardship.
But that doesn’t mean that he’s at ease, knowing it is likely that he will set up September’s prospects in training camp in Traverse City, Mich., then be forced by a lockout to stop working.
“No one’s happy about what could happen,” Warren said. “I started this job when I was 22, and I enjoy what I do. I’m just trying to be prepared to make the best of it.”
Walker and Warren are employees of the Caps, but most of those who work on game nights aren’t. Ushers, vendors and security guards are employed by the operators of MCI Center. The goal judges and other off-ice officials work for the league. But if the 41 games scheduled for MCI Center next season are wiped out by a lockout, those employees will lose because they get paid by the hour.
Several longtime employees who declined to be identified said a lockout would hasten their retirements. Another said he’s not that concerned because his MCI position is a sideline to his 9-to-5 job.
“If there’s no hockey, I’ll lose the extra money I could use to go on vacation, but it’s not that big a deal,” he said. “It means I’ll get some rest, but it will really impact people who are retired or who are students and don’t have full-time jobs.”
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