NHL billionaires have been behaving badly.

Three have been worse than most: the Boston Bruins and the Buffalo Sabres, who were among the last to commit to paying their game-day employees and some of those plans were far weaker than other teams.

Now they’ve taken it to another, even lower, level.

Boston Bruins

The Bruins released a statement from Delaware North–which controls the Bruins and TD Garden and is owned by billionaire Jeremy Jacobs. They announced that starting April 1, many full-time employees would be placed on leave and receive only one week’s pay.

“68 of our full-time salaried associates will be placed on temporary leave, receiving one week of paid leave and eight weeks of full benefits. Additionally, as of April 1, 2020, 82 of our full-time salaried associates will receive an indefinite salary reduction.”

The Bruins owner is Jeremy Jacobs. He is worth nearly $4,000,000,000. He has enough money to fix this.

Many people have been hit hard by the effects of coronavirus. Jacobs is one of the people who has chosen to hit them harder.

Buffalo Sabres

The Buffalo Sabres announced that “Pegula Sports & Entertainment, in partnership with the Buffalo Bills and Buffalo Sabres foundations, will provide at least $1.2 million in direct community aid to Western New York residents in need during the COVID-19 pandemic, owners Terry and Kim Pegula announced today.”

That money will go to support relief efforts, first responders, and food banks.

The Pegulas are worth 5 billion dollars. They previously refused to pay employees for “postponed” games, only canceled ones, thus excluding all Sabres events. They have now proceeded to lay off employees anyway.

One has to wonder how many of the “Western New York residents in need” who will be lining up for those foodbanks will be former Pegulas employees.

Dallas Stars

Dallas as an organization and leadership group appears to be doing better than most at the moment. According to The Dallas Morning News, “Stars CEO Jim Lites and general manager Jim Nill have taken 50% pay cuts retroactive to the NHL’s suspension on March 12, in an attempt to help alleviate financial stress on the organization caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Editors note: This article has been updated. While Dallas Stars’ owner Tom Gaglardi has not announced any personal or direct steps to help players, we no longe believe the comparison of him to the owners of other organizations is appropriate at this time.

Headline photo: NHL logos/Pixabay