No One Consulted Crosby Before Firing Paul Kelly

When NHLPA decided to fire its executive director, Paul Kelly, one would assume that it was an idea at least bounced-off the league’s most famous player, Sidney Crosby. After all, he was voted by Hockey News as “the most powerful person in hockey.” Surely he’d have some sort of opinion to offer on the situation, so it would be best to, I dunno, maybe conference him in on a phone call. But, as Sporting News reports today, Crosby was completely left in the dark.
“I woke up the next day and saw the news like the rest,” Crosby told SportingNews.com.
Crosby does his best to downplay his omission, saying “If they found something they felt was reason for change, there must have been ... The executive board, obviously, found reasons that they felt were time for a change. Those guys are the ones in charge of making those decisions.” And that’s all very nice of him to say, but Craig Custance says there is nothing about the firing that makes it seem like it was the obvious decision. In fact, Ted Lindsay, the man largely credited with the creation of the players’ union, was on a Toronto radio station and said, “I was thinking, ‘Boy, this is really a crucifixion of Paul Kelly that’s going on.’ That was the biggest scam job, execution, that I’ve ever seen in my life.” Ultimately, this is why the executive board is in place, to make decisions like this, and clearly things are a bit messy within the NHLPA, but still, you would think that they would at least consult with Crosby, the game’s most marketable, powerful, and popular player before ousting the head of the union.