Report: Flyers violated CBA by traveling on Dec. 26

Update: The National Hockey League has fined the Philadelphia Flyers for failure to observe a mandatory day of rest, it announced Sunday. 

In a terse statement on its website, the league identified the Flyers as in violation of Article 16.5(b) of the sport's Collective Bargaining Agreement. 

"The National Hockey League announced today that it has fined the Philadelphia Flyers' organization for the team's travel to Nashville on December 26, 2014. This team activity was in violation of Article 16.5(b) of the Collective Bargaining Agreement between the NHL and the NHL Players' Association.

The League will have no further comment on the matter."

Flyers general manager Ron Hextall said Sunday his players wanted the best possible chance to win and wanted to leave early, according to Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia. 

Hextall would not disclose the amount of the fine, but said he accepted the league's decision. 

Original post:

The Philadelphia Flyers violated the NHL's CBA by traveling on the evening of Dec. 26, Sportsnet's Chris Johnston reports. 

The Flyers left Philadelphia at 8:24 p.m. that night, Johnston reports. Philadelphia had a game against the Nashville Predators in Tennessee on the 27th.

Dec. 24, 25 and 26 are supposed to be off days for all NHL teams, under the current CBA. Teams are not allowed to have any organized activities on those three days, including travel. 

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Several NHL teams, including the AnaheimDucks, held informal practices on the day after Christmas. Those teams did not violate the CBA, Johnston reports.

Twelve other teams had games on Dec. 27, but only the Flyers traveled during the restricted period, according to Johnston. The other 11 teams took morning flights on the day of the game.

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- Dan Gartland