photo by: Ian Hicks

WesBanco Arena, home of the ECHL’s Wheeling Nailers, is pictured late Friday. The Nailers’ eight-game homestand that was scheduled to begin Saturday is up in the air as the league’s players went on strike Friday.

WHEELING — The ECHL postponed 13 games Friday after players went on strike, beginning a work stoppage in the development hockey league with 30 teams around the United States and Canada — including the Wheeling Nailers’ scheduled road game against Toledo.

The Professional Hockey Players’ Association announced Friday that it had “commenced job action” and cited travel for back-to-back games, a holiday break, guaranteed contracts, health benefits during the offseason and player compensation as unresolved issues in negotiations on a new collective bargaining agreement with the ECHL.

“Over the past several days, the PHPA offered to return to work immediately on four separate occasions while continuing negotiations toward a settlement,” a statement published Friday to the PHPA website reads in part.

“In each instance, the union asked that if an agreement could not be reached within a short defined period, the remaining issues be resolved with the assistance of an experienced mediator or arbitrator. Each request was denied by the league.”

Only the Wheeling Nailers’ Friday road game has been officially postponed, but should further games be canceled, it would affect a lengthy Nailers homestand – eight-straight home games that were to commence Saturday. The Nailers were set to host Indy followed by Cincinnati on Sunday with more home games next Wednesday and Friday – both against Worcester – and Saturday against Bloomington.

With the work stoppage, those games are now in question.

“We will be in direct communication with our fans about any home games that will be postponed or rescheduled,” a statement on the Wheeling Nailers’ website read.

Members of the PHPA voted last week to authorize its negotiating committee to call for a strike. The league and union have been engaged in collective bargaining since January.

“Unfortunately, union leaders deprived players of the opportunity to vote on our last, best and final offer,” the ECHL said in a statement, adding it agreed to raise player salaries 20% in the first year, increase per diems, guarantee more off days and expand equipment made available to players. “We did everything possible to avoid this outcome and hope that the union leadership will drop its unworkable scheduling demands, let the players vote on our offer, and make it possible for players to return to work.”

The league said its latest offer ups the salary cap by 19.8%, an increase from the 16.4% from the proposal posted to its website Monday.

“The ECHL made clear to union leadership that this was the best offer and that any future offers likely will need to account for losses in revenue attributable to missed games from a player strike,” the league said in a statement. “While we did not receive a formal response, we have heard from certain players that they will not be reporting for their scheduled games. We strongly encouraged union leadership to submit our offer to a vote of its membership, but we do not believe that happened.”

The union said the players are trusting the process.

“The PHPA has just completed a player rep and leadership call, where members expressed their confidence in their bargaining committee and the process,” the PHPA said in a statement. “All questions were answered and up-to-date information was provided in real-time.”