Dallas Area Youth Hockey in the Spotlight Amid Concerns Over Costs and Access

Dallas Area Youth Hockey in the Spotlight Amid Concerns Over Costs and Access

Welcome back. All right, so for the second time today, I’m going to talk about the Dallas Stars organization. The difference is that the video I did earlier was about the on ice, the team. This is about uh off ice. This is about youth hockey. And this is a story that has really taken off on social media. So, I felt like I did need to do a video addressing it. It would not fit into just a news of the day type video. It needed to be its own video. So, the Dallas Stars have a monopoly on Dallas area youth hockey. And uh when a local association was trying to fire a couple of coaches uh because they had poor scores from parent groups and basically it sounded like they weren’t very popular with the players either. Uh the Dallas Stars stepped in. Uh the Dallas Stars basically uh sat down with the association head and said uh let me remind you where you get your ice from. Now, this quote was attributed to a Dallas Stars executive who denies that those are the words he used and that he said this in the meeting. Uh, but if you let go of a coach that Dallas likes, apparently that can lead to problems. So, the Dallas Stars, what they did after a couple of coaches lost their jobs, uh, was that they they took over. They took over those clubs. Uh, they they took over and they put those coaches right back in charge. and their statement was uh that the the coaches uh were not breaking any rules and they had good track record. So why why in the world would they lose their jobs? And uh yeah, so we’ll get into that a little bit. Uh the Stars in their defense say that they are a model for non-traditional NHL markets on how to grow the game and that USA hockey is very complimentary of how they run their local youth hockey. Although this is seemingly not an opinion that has 100% support from those in the youth hockey area around Dallas. Uh there are fewer than 3,000 ice hockey rinks in the United States. Um and this is because they’re they’re expensive. Uh an ice hockey rink is very very expensive. Uh but for comparison, I looked it up. 2766 ice hockey ranks in Canada. So, um, even though Canada has a population that’s usually 10 to 12% of the American population, uh, almost the same number of hockey ranks in Canada as the US. Understandable. Uh, hockey is a big part of the culture in Canada and there everything’s hockey everywhere. Uh, just off the top of my head, I know of four ice hockey rinks here in Abbottzford and I’m just thinking, well, wait a minute, one, two, three, I’ll say four, but there’s more than that. Um, but that’s and that’s listed by Arena Guide Canada, so I’ll trust them on that. They seem to have this this all figured out. And since it’s such an exact number, sure, 2766. Good job. Um, now the Stars have had numerous ranks built with public funds, and they’ve also bought others. So, as ranks struggle, and I’m sure that ranks struggle, um, the stars buy them up or they go out of business. uh and independent ranks have had a really hard time. And I do understand too with the economy being as everything is and and and with inflation being as everything is, some of the price increases or some of the fee increases I’ve seen here could be explained by some of that. Uh there were some fees that it looked like by my math had gone up 30% over the last 5 to 6 years. But for families, that’s tough. It is really, really difficult. And when you’re the Dallas Stars and your organization is valued at $2 billion, it is going to mean there’s some heat on you from parents, from groups, and from just from outsiders that it it doesn’t necessarily look fantastic for families to be basically broke because they’re putting their kid through through hockey. This is why I will never say, “Well, hockey players are grossly overpaid and they should just play for the love of the game.” Because these parents are paying through the nose to get their their their kid out on the ice. And most of these kids, of course, won’t reach the NHL. Uh may not reach the AHL or the ECHL. They are definitely playing for the love of the game, but they are paying for the love of the game as well. So, um, they took over a dozen high school clubs and then all of the fees were directly paid to the Stars. So, basically, they went in, they took over the high school clubs. Um, all of the coaches then became employees of the Dallas Stars. So, you can’t fire them and nobody can fire them. Uh, they also raised fees and then the one thing that seems to be a sticking point here is the fees went up and practice time dropped. uh practice time for some of these teams in Dallas being below the recommended practice time recommended by USA Hockey uh so that these kids are are able to advance and able to stay in in hockey shape so that they they have a chance. I mean these kids all have the same dream, right? So you want to give them an equal chance. Now the Stars claim that by buying up these hockey clubs and buying everything in the area that they’ve leveled the playing field including fees. So fees might go up in one place, they might go down in another. Uh they say that coaches pay is protected here and that it keeps coaches from uh losing their job to leaders with access to grind, which is an interesting way of putting it. Um, I I understand what they’re getting at here, but I don’t know how prevalent it is for a coach, and I’m I mean that I don’t know how prevalent it is for a youth hockey coach to be out just because of a leader with an axe to grind. Um, they also claimed that coaches were were paid more and that players paid less in fees after they took over. um they they kept the coaches due to their strong track record and no rule violations. That being the two coaches from the top. So that’s where that was looking for that on the board. Now the Stars also did not apparently honor there was 104 hours of free ice time at practice facilities. They did not honor. So parents weren’t expecting to pay this. Associations weren’t expected to pay this. and it build these associations tens of thousands of dollars for that ice time. Um, and so the families that got overcharged in this situation are getting $312 refunds for each season that they were overcharged, which parents in the associations are saying doesn’t come close to co to to evening that that out that they lost so much money in ICE fees. And ICE is pricey. It is uh one of the reasons why uh I don’t you know well why don’t we have an ice hockey game here. One thing is if I threw my own ice hockey game I don’t think I would get nearly the turnout I get for a street hockey game in Kquitlam. Uh because anybody can go out and pick up a stick and play street hockey. Not everybody can go out and skate and do all that. Not everybody has all the all the prerequisite hockey equipment. It’s expensive and then the ice itself is really pricey. Uh, so I I totally understand the the frustration people have with the cost of ice. So for this not to be honored and then the amount of money coming back isn’t what the the parents are all that happy with, it’s not great. Now, the Dallas Stars apparently own eight of 11 full-sized rinks within 150 mi of Dallas. So if you’re within 150 mi of Dallas Fort Worth, uh, good chance that if you go to a rank, the Dallas Stars own it. And they’re still building more. looks like they’re going to own as many as 10. And it it really builds that monopoly. Right now, for the Dallas Stars, they’re saying that the the practice time uh in part is to make sure everybody gets equal time. I have seen people too defending Dallas and how they do things on social media and saying that there were some that weren’t getting any ice time and now they are and that it kind of evens things out a little bit. But I do understand where parents are coming from in this one. Uh, the Stars also exclude teams from other ranks from their leagues. So, if you’re a youth team that plays in a rank that is not owned by the Dallas Stars, you may not be welcome in one of their leagues. Now, in some instances in this article, uh there are teams that weren’t allowed and then were, and there are some that still might be barred, but they have complete control over who gets into those leagues because they own everything, right? Uh the ice costs for traveling teams are up uh and practice time is down. So teams that travel in to Dallas uh their costs have gone through the roof and they also get charged for hotels. Parents being paid forced to pay for hotels uh that they don’t even want in order to get access to tournaments. You want to get into this tournament, you got to pay these fees included in these fees, a hotel fee. And if you’re not going to use the hotel, oh well, you still have to pay it. Now, in the article, it also mentions that those hotel fees are relatively common, but this is something that parents are bringing up, and it just feels like it’s all of these things rolled into one that if any of these one things were just on their own, it wouldn’t be a big deal. But it’s everything cumulatively that’s caused this level of upset. Um, one-on-one uh lessons have ballooned in cost. So, if you want your your kid to actually make it to the NHL, one-on-one training is important. They are going to need specified training, and they are going to need lessons in every type of skating you can imagine. And it is a lot of work. It is a tremendous amount of work. And I don’t care whether uh an NHL players on the first line, the fourth line, if they’re in the AHL, if they’re barely an NHL player, all of them have gone through this. And so I have full respect for any hockey player uh because of the fact that it is very pricey. It takes a lot of work and it’s a lot of dedication. But the parents have to have that dedication as well. And so the fact that these one-on-one lessons, which I was reading it was $55 to get a a a coach with four players. And now it can be as high as $200 for a one-on-one lesson uh for your your youth player uh to have a meeting with a a skating coach or strength and conditioning coach. uh in order to have these lessons. Now, rising energy costs are playing a role in the fact that some of these prices are going up and the Dallas Stars acknowledge that, hey, you know, this is this is part of it and we’re trying to do what we can for families. Dallas, it was apparently a 35minute interview that they gave USA Today. uh there were certain people that weren’t necessarily available, didn’t answer uh requests from USA Today for comment, but in general, they’re they’re trying to tell as much as they can here. Now, one thing that is always something to keep in mind is social media. Um I don’t know how many times on social media we’ve seen somebody put in a complaint or say something and it comes back to bite them. Apparently, if you complain on social media about the Dallas Stars monopoly or anything related to uh leagues run by the Dallas Stars, you run the risk of yourself being banned from the league. You run the risk of your kids being banned from the league. Uh there was a petition that was put up at one point and the man that put up the petition uh was told, “If your son wants any future here in Dallas hockey, basically take that down. Do what we tell you.” Uh there was another instance I saw in the article of somebody being told that for the next six months keep your head down. I don’t want to see any more posts and they will tell you to remove every post that’s critical of the Dallas Stars way of running things. So it’s it’s tough and it’s interesting too because the the criticism of a team I don’t think Dallas is alone here. I do think there are other teams that would take a similar similar point of view of if you’re going to criticize us, you’re not getting usage of our leagues and our our setups, but it is another example of how all of these things together add up to make Dallas not necessarily look great. Uh so parents are concerned. They don’t want to speak up because they don’t want to negatively impact their kids’ ability to get out on the ice and play. They don’t want to affect their kids’ ability to stay in these leagues and play in these tournaments because they’re paying all this money and they want to make sure that they’re getting back what they’re paying into. Now, there is a body that you could report these issues to, the Texas Amateur Hockey Association, but there’s a problem. Uh, it is heavily influenced or controlled by the Dallas Stars. Uh, four of the 11 board members were directly employed apparently by Dallas. Uh, a couple of them were were uh accused of corruption. One of them stepped down. Uh, one of them’s resigned. So, one stepped down as the the board president. Uh, he’s still on the board, though. And the other one has has resigned altogether. Uh, the Dallas Stars, when asked about that, are just saying, “Yeah, they’re no longer members of the organization.” Uh, but they were using their status to improve themselves. basically uh using it to benefit themselves in other areas. You’re not allowed to do that. Basically, there was some conflict of interest and so the Texas Amateur Hockey Association’s going through some stuff, but this is the body that you would report to. Uh if you feel like things aren’t aren’t being run very well in one of the one of those leagues that the Dallas Stars are running, uh basically you’re going to the Dallas Stars about how you’re not happy with what the Dallas Stars are doing. So, the odds of the Dallas Stars doing something to correct the Dallas Stars, they’re not great. The odds are not great that the Dallas Stars are going to do much about what you don’t like that the Dallas Stars are doing. Uh, there are also lengthy leases. So, one question is, so the monopoly that they have in place, is there anything that could challenge it? apparently and again I do recommend reading the article uh leng the leases these these teams have which can be 20 to 30 years it ranks uh basically it just makes sure that nobody’s going to come in and and compete with them at all and this could be seen as antitrust I think antitrust is the terminology for this here uh but basically it’s a monopoly on local youth hockey that they have the leases definitely helped these are arenas that once again were paid for by uh taxpayer dollars and then the stars pay it back over over a number of years, but they own those arenas and those leases are in place with with some. So, it’s a mess. Uh so, yeah, the parents get forced to pay for those hotels. The fees go through the roof. And I did see one parent saying, you know, it’s it’s like $30,000 for the year. It’s a lot of money. Uh, I I I do think that there was a video I did years ago on how it can cost you over $100,000 if you’re a parent to get your kid anywhere near the National Hockey League. To get them to draft age, it’s about $100,000. I would say with what I’m seeing in this article here, those costs have ballooned. And if it costs you $100,000 to get your your child to draft age and get drafted into the NHL, um probably I would say $150 $200,000 now for that to happen. It is a lot of money and it is tough because it’s not the same as other sports. You can play basketball wherever you can play baseball. I mean, there’s baseball. There’s there’s baseball diamonds all around this this city. uh and and it’s easy to play football and and to play these other sports because you don’t require ice, which hockey does. And you can go out and rollerblade, but it’s different. Rollerblading is definitely different than playing on ice. Um and uh Mike Selein, the founding member, founding board member of the Texas Hockey League, which is made up of basically associations in Texas and Oklahoma to try to try to give people an an option that’s not just the Dallas Stars controlled stuff. He said ice is gold and they control the ice. So basically, even though they have this association and they’re trying to build themselves up, that the ice itself is controlled by the Dallas Stars, which means that there’s only so much they can do. Um, so unless they’re going to build their own ranks, which most people don’t have the money to build their own ranks, uh, it it really is a matter of the Dallas Stars own all of it. And I don’t know what you do about this. If the Dallas Stars have have basically got these buildings put together and and they own them, they’ve got the leases on all of them, I don’t know what you do. Uh, for the National Hockey League, I don’t think this would fall under their under their umbrella. I don’t think Gary Bman’s going to be concerned about the youth hockey in in the Dallas area necessarily. It doesn’t affect the NHL one way or the other. And so, I’m not sure what the answer to this is. And it it is the one thing that, you know, I’m putting this all together. I’m thinking I I don’t know how this gets solved. I do wonder if daylight on this is going to change anything the Dallas Stars do and anything that any way that they approach this because clearly there is some resentment towards the organization. I would say some of it’s probably very much warranted and some of it may very well just be the economic climate that we’re in and Dallas passing along increases in their costs to parents to the associations and everybody else. I cannot imagine how expensive it is to run an ice rink, especially if it’s during the summer uh certain times of year, but definitely in Dallas, it’s a lot warmer there than it’s going to be in say Saskatoon uh when you get into November, that kind of thing, right? So, it’s going to be much much more expensive uh to keep an arena cold enough for ice uh north of the border than you’re going to have in the deep south of the United States. So, it is an interesting issue. I’d be interested to know your thoughts in the comment section below. as always. Uh, also let me know if if you’ve had some sort of um issue with with a local hockey organization and what other NHL teams might do this. Like I talk in news of the day videos about teams doing all this youth hockey stuff and I’m always really like that’s great. That’s great. They’re in the youth hockey business and they’re they’re they’re helping to to raise the next generation of hockey players. But clearly there’s an ugly side to that as well. And with what Dallas is doing, I wonder how many other organizations might be doing something similar. Maybe the same, but maybe very, very similar. So, let me know your thoughts in the comments section below. As always, hit like and subscribe in the event you may not have done so already. Uh, thank you guys so much for watching, for all your support, and we’ll see if there’s an update on this and if any of this changes or what kind of a a news release we get from the Dallas Stars. I haven’t seen anything official yet, but I I do think we’ll get something from the Dallas Stars at some point. Uh because this is clearly a big deal. Uh like I said, I’m seeing this all over and I felt like it needed a video today so we can have that discussion. But let me know your thoughts. Hit like and subscribe in the event you may not have done so already. Thank you guys so much for all your support. I will talk to you again soon.

Here’s the article that has the hockey world talking today. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/investigations/2025/08/01/nhl-dallas-stars-texas-youth-hockey-monopoly/84289184007/

Join this channel to get access to perks:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_AFyA9FqrZ57bb9QRH77wg/join

Join us on our discord to chat hockey, talk with others during the game, share pet pictures, and more.
https://discord.gg/thehockeyguy

Order jerseys from Ben H Sports while saving 10% off the listed eBay prices by sending him an email regarding jerseys you spot in his listings. ben.hoogenband@yahoo.ca Just tell him Shannon sent you.

Support The Hockey Guy via Patreon https://www.patreon.com/thehockeyguy

https://www.facebook.com/youtubehockeyguy/
Instagram: thgshannon and thg_cats
Spoutible: https://spoutible.com/TheHockeyGuy

TheHockeyGuy.yt@gmail.com

Contact me via snail mail at:
The Hockey Guy
PO Box 13063 RPO Highstreet
Abbotsford, BC
V2S 0C4
CANADA

In the USA: some times it takes us a few weeks to get items up to us
Shannon Skanes
1125 Fir Avenue
Suite 119
Blaine, WA 98230

Shop THG Store:
www.thgyt.ca