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While the NBA and NFL were in action over Christmas, the NHL takes off December 24 through 26 as per the league’s current collective bargaining agreement with the NHLPA.

Or at least it’s supposed to be, and the Dallas Stars are being investigated for potentially running afoul of that rule.

According to The Athletic, Stars head coach Pete DeBoer may have let it slip that the team held an optional practice over the break.

“I was at the rink yesterday, DeBoer said before the Stars’ 3-2 loss to the Minnesota Wild. “We had an optional, and of course the young guys all show up for the optional like, you know, they’re supposed to do.”

Uh, coach… you said the quiet part loud…

Per The Athletic, Article 16.5 (b) of the Collective Bargaining Agreement says that “December 24, Christmas Day, and December 26 shall be off-days for all purposes, including travel, and no Club may request a Player’s consent to practice on such days for any reason.”

I think that might be a slam dunk for the league.

The Dallas Stars are being investigated for possibly violating the CBA’s rules about Christmas break. (Tim Heitman-Imagn Images)

The team said in a statement that they’re cooperating with the league and doing their own internal investigation.

Wild head coach John Hynes was asked about the Stars’ potential rule-breaking and said he was giving the DeBoer the benefit of the doubt and considered the idea that the coach misspoke and that the ice was simply available to any players who wanted to use it.

That’s possible. It just seems crazy that a team could break this rule. I mean, even I knew about it. So, the idea of an organization knowingly breaking it and then a coach blabbing about it to the media, seems kind of hard to believe.

I’m anxious to see what comes of this investigation. Was it a misunderstanding, or are the Stars about to receive some kind of penalty?