Czeched out.

So much has happened in the last few weeks, and we’ve made a lot of changes. We’ve done a few trips, which I will get around to posting, but I felt I should share the story on what’s been going on behind the scenes of my Instagram posts. It’s been such a whirlwind that I can’t remember who I told what to. Eventually, I just stopped updating people because as soon as I would, everything would change again.

I’ll start at the the beginning, so buckle up because it’s a long one... Honestly, I’ll be surprised if you can make it to the end. I’ll try to stick to the facts and keep it to the point.

It all started after Cam first signed with HC Orli, Znojmo. The team is based in the Czech Republic, but is part of the EBEL which is the league in Austria. Cam was super excited to go to the league as it was a step-up and he had heard great things about the experiences other players have had.

Cam arrived in town on July 29th. When he arrived, he was already underwhelmed with the apartment and car he was given. We were definitely spoiled in Switzerland last year, and I don’t think we realized just how lucky we were. It’s typically up to the team to provide a furnished apartment. Cam’s apartment had most of the essentials, but he had to purchase a lot of extra things he was missing. For example, Cam had one shower towel in the whole place. Yes, he was by himself, so I guess he could have gotten away with using one. But it was the only towel in the house, so things would get a little weird if he had to start doing dishes, cleaning and drying himself with the same crunchy towel. So, Cam bought several things such as pots and pans, and bedding for the bed (there was a single duvet and couch cushion on his double bed), along with a few other things he would need. He decided to ask the team to purchase a couple of towels for him, their response was that he wasn’t at a hotel.

This should have been our first sign. If they wanted to say no, fine, but they were in no mood to help in any way that wasn’t mandatory for them. The lady who told him this was the team manager. She was our main line of communication with the team as she was basically the only one that spoke English. She also happens to be the owner’s daughter....naturally.

Cam and his team had a pretty good pre-season, and there was a lot of expectations on them. They didn’t make playoffs last year, but they bring in a couple extra imports and expect miracles. The team lost the first two games in overtime, and then lost their third game. This is when things began to get a little weird.

This is when the owner started showing his real side. He told them if they did not win a certain amount of the next 8 games, that he was going to be taking away 20% of their September paycheque. We were worried, but figured he couldn’t do this to the imports because they had signed contracts…well he did it anyway. When they got paid in October (late I might add) the 20% was gone.

It’s important to note, that the head coach of the team had health issues and had not attended any practices. This meant that there were two assistant coaches (both that barely spoke English) who were taking turns running practice, and then the head coach would show up to coach the games. Not necessarily the recipe for success. Then, they couldn’t figure out why nothing was changing even though they were doing the same thing every game. One of the other players pointed out that it’s literally the definition of insanity.

Shortly after, the threats of losing their jobs started coming. Cam had never dealt with anything like this before so it made us pretty uneasy. We weren’t able to feel settled because we didn’t know if he would have a job from one day to the next. It continued on like this for a few weeks, with more threats of their jobs and taking money. It started to feel as though getting released would be a relief and at least then we would know what was going on.

On a Tuesday morning, the team released one of their imported defensemen. I won’t even get into how messed up that meeting was as it’s not my business, but you can trust me here, it was crazy. This player was injured in a practice the week before, and essentially didn’t believe him. Apparently a doctor's note is as irrelevant as signed contracts. In the weeks following, they treated him absolutely terrible. Seriously, he would have a post all on his own.

That same night, the team lost to a team that is one of the best in the league. It really should not be expected for them to run away with this one. The next morning, the guys show up to practice and notice there is no pucks, no nets. They practiced for an hour skating and were not allowed to have water. If you want to punish guys, sure, but no water…really? You're just asking for something to go wrong here. Following the practice, they were told the team would no longer be doing their hockey laundry and no new equipment was being ordered. No laundry seems more like a punishment for the people around them who have to smell them more-so for the players themselves, but what do I know? They had to return that night to go for a run. The one run of the year that's going to get them in shape for the winning spree they were predicted to go on thanks to that morning's practice.

Cam went to the practice in the morning, and came back to drive me to work. After dropping me, he left to go back to the rink for the run. On his way, his agent called and told him the team informed him they would be releasing him the following week.

This was such a weird situation. It gave us so much relief to know it would be over, but also were so scared of what was going to happen during this process.

Cam continued going to practice that week and played two games that weekend. They won both games, and Cam played well and had a few points. Following the game on Sunday, his coach informed him that they were indeed releasing him.

The following few days were days off so we joined two other players and went to Budapest, knowing nothing was going to be getting resolved. Some of the boys were informed that they should not fly anywhere because they didn’t have their visas yet and they were already in Europe for over 90 days. This meant they could have gotten detained, deported, fined, whatever else. We didn’t get this message, so I guess they didn’t care if any of that happened to us haha. Like I said, Cam had been there since the summer. The team didn’t have them fill out visa forms until close to the end of September. Completely irresponsible and totally their fault.

This is where things get interesting... I will give you the highlights, but could honestly write a book about what happened after he was finally released. I’ll summarize and go day by day.

WEDNESDAY: We were still in Budapest, and the guys we were with got a forwarded email from the team stating that their visas were ready at the visa office in Vienna, and they would be going to pick them up the following morning during practice. Naturally, the only time the office was open overlapped with practice time.

To our surprise (ha!), Cam didn’t receive this text. He decided to message the team manager and say he would also join because he also still needed the visa (as stated In his legal contract he signed).

Her response was that she did not invite him, and that there was no room in her car. Of course there wasn’t. *insert eye roll*. He solved the issue and politely said, that it was no problem, that he would drive himself and if she could have the forms ready that he needed.

She said that the accountant that had the forms wouldn’t be in, and that Cam did not have permission to miss practice and he had to be there.

Ah yes, the guy you are getting rid of needs to be at practice but your other players will miss it. This was to be expected.

THURSDAY: Cam shows up to the big important mandatory practice to find his gear gone, the team took it back. He also finds out that there was indeed an empty seat in the manager’s car. (Shocking, I know.)

Bad move. Not only did she lie, but she purposely blocked Cam from receiving his visa.

Cam asked what he should do, since his gear was gone, and we know the owner doesn’t know much about hockey, but the ice would have been a little slippery in his shower shoes. So he was told to work out in the gym, which he did.

That afternoon, Cam returned to the rink for a meeting. The meeting was with the gm, the owner, and his daughter, aka the team manager. It’s like a big family get-together! Here, they tell him why they are releasing him and make him an offer. They essentially offered him the money that they already owed him from missing pay and a flight out for both him and I, plus a months salary. Pretty much what we were expecting. Cam asked that the official offer be forwarded to his agent. They finished the meaning by warning him that if his agent “made things difficult” they would call the police on him and report him as an illegal immigrant.

AN ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT.

WHY? Why did they add this? Doesn’t this just make it difficult? Cam seemed ok with just taking it and getting out of there. Which I would have supported if they didn’t try to be like the playground bully and start throwing threats around.

FRIDAY: Cam showed up to another practice with his gear gone, and was told to work out again. He did. He then had the rest of the day off until Sunday evening.

Fast forward…

SUNDAY: Cam worked out again as told. He still had not heard anything more, so he asked the coach to check in with the team, wanting to avoid dealing with the manager again. The coach said they were waiting on a response from his agent. His agent had never been sent the offer. After practice, they sent the offer to Cam’s email but did not tell him, so he didn’t see it until Monday. They also at one point tried to claim he wasn't at this practice. Cam was making sure to talk to everyone and put in his pin number in the door every time to avoid them trying this.

MONDAY: Cam gets the email. The offer is less than what they had discussed, because at this point, it was halfway through November and Cam was still doing as was required so should be paid for those days. Plus, he wanted to be compensated for the percentage of pay he had taken away against the signed agreement. His agent made this counter offer asking for this. The team responded with nothing else other than “Cam is an illegal immigrant. We will be calling the police tomorrow.”

Cam only asked for what he deserved, he was not greedy, just wanted what they had both agreed he was owed. We did not think he was asking for much, just along the lines of basic human decency. Man, were we wrong! Our kind, considerate fellow Canadians from our upbringing really gave us a false sense of decency, damn.

We spent the rest of the night talking to his agent, contacting a lawyer, ensuring we weren’t going to get a knock on the door the next morning that would turn our life upside down. Every time I heard sirens that night I got up and peaked out the blinds. As if they would show up lights on, sirens blaring to check a passport, LOL. I really had no idea what these people were capable of. His agent and lawyer both reassured us that it wasn’t going to happen, especially because it was the team’s job to get it and they blocked him from doing it on his own. Thank god I had already gotten my visa myself, so if it did happen I could stay and get things sorted out. I can’t even imagine how scary it would be to have officers show up, in a foreign country, who don’t speak English and take my boyfriend away. We figured it was a bluff, but we were ready just in case. The team truly expected Cam to just take whatever and leave, they couldn’t believe he wasn’t already running away. Cam showed up again to practice, and I had my phone in hand ready to frantically figure out the Czech Republic legal system.

The best scenario I can imagine to compare it to is this-It’s like you’re standing in the supermarket, and your toddler wants something absurd. When he can’t have it, he starts to throw a tantrum. It begins by him staring at you, giving you a warning of what might happen if the words “no” come out of your mouth. When they do, he loses it. He knows he can’t get it on his own and he’s stuck, so he just starts throwing whatever he can at you. He expects it to hit you in the face, and when you catch it and hand it back to him, he gets more and more frustrated. He gets so mad he is not getting what he wants that he just loses his mind. He can’t stand that he’s getting no reaction out of you as you hold your ground.

I don’t have kids, but I can imagine this feeling of astonishment of someone else’s behaviour would be quite similar to ours the last few weeks.

TUESDAY: When Cam showed up to the rink, despite being threatened, the team had a conference call with his agent and the commissioner of the EBEL league. The commissioner made his suggestion that the two should meet in the middle and get the deal finished and over with. Seems reasonable to us. After the phone call, both Cam, his agent, and the commissioner had the impression that the deal was agreed and over.

The team manager contacted Cam and said his visa information would be available the next day and asked us where we wanted to flights to. He told them I wanted to fly to Fredericton and he was going to Denmark. We told them we wanted it as soon as possible and to let us know what the suggested itinerary would be and she told him when she had it she would send it to us. We waited most of the day, and got started on packing and cleaning up.

We finally thought we saw the light at the end of the tunnel. But just when they hit rock bottom and we thought they could only go up from here, they start looking for a shovel to find a new low.

Cam sent a follow up text asking if there was any more news. She responded and told him that her father had changed his mind... He was going to keep Cam there, but he would not play and would be practicing with the under 20 junior team for the remainder of the season. (I will add: Cam is 27). We assume this is because they knew he had a new team waiting on him and they thought they’d make one last attempt at paying him nothing.

It’s like if an elephant tried to have a business selling peanuts. He wants to use his peanuts to make more, but he just doesn’t want anyone else to have the peanuts he wants to get rid of. And his peanut-sized brain can’t figure out how to have both. So instead of using them to build his business by letting them go, or just keeping them for himself, he just stomps on them so no one can have them.

To be honest, this is the point where their crazy tactics almost worked. Cam did not want to get buried into their organization and spend the year living like this, and who could blame him? The fact that they were willing to pay him the rest of the season, including his apartment and car, instead of just giving what was owed and releasing him seemed so absurd we couldn’t believe it. So we didn’t believe it.

Wednesday: Cam showed up to the rink again the next day ready to practice with the juniors, although he was still expected to be at the rink when his team was on the ice in the morning. They sent him to work out where the trainer gave him a pretty heavy leg workout. I should mention, Cam liked this guy, he was independent from the team and seemed to have no idea of their intentions. Half way through the workout, one of the other players passed on the message that the team was going to have Cam complete fitness testing and a VO2 max test that afternoon. Of course they were.

Cam finished his workout, and then was called into a meeting with the Owner again and his daughter. They told him they had one final offer and he had five minutes to decide. I bet you can guess what the offer was. Yes, it was THE EXACT SAME DEAL THE COMMISSIONER WANTED THEM TO SETTLE ON THE DAY BEFORE. Sigh.

He was told he had five minutes, and he could not contact his agent. They also didn’t want to allow him to call me, but he said he needed to talk to me before he was booking me on a flight and not telling me. Reluctantly, they let him. So he called me, and I called his agent. LOL. He told us to just take it and get out of there and we would deal with anything after.

They booked our flights and within a few hours, I was on my way to the Vienna airport to fly home. Cam was booked a few days later to Denmark to give him time to get Visas and everything sorted out.

We still couldn’t breathe until Cam was actually on a flight and had everything he should in his hands. We had no idea how far they would go. We were half expecting to get to the airport and find out the flight didn't even get booked.

Like I said, I stuck to the facts as best as I could haha. So many things happened to other players during all of this that I can’t even get into. I might save that for our book we keep thinking about writing. LOL.

As for now, we are both now in Denmark and things are the complete opposite. Cam already seems so much happier and more comfortable and is doing so well. It’s now all part of this crazy adventure, but we have learned a lot of lessons and will make sure to do our best to keep it from happening to anyone else. If you made it this far, thanks for reading and hopefully that explains all the changes we’ve been making.

Here’s to bigger and better things!