According to the always-reliable Liz Mullen of SportsBusiness Journal, former MLBPA Executive Director Donald Fehr will take over the same position with the NHL Players Association.
Report: Donald Fehr To Become NHLPA’s Executive Director
Nick Kypreos of Sportsnet confirmed the news as well, adding that it’s an interim position that will “get [the PA] to 2012,” when a new collective-bargaining agreement will have to be negotiated. According to Mullen’s report, player reps from each team in the league would have to approve the move before it’s finalized.
The NHLPA has been in disarray since they fired former Executive Director Paul Kelly, almost a year ago to the day. With the CBA negotiations looming in two years, the union knew they needed a strong voice to take over as their leader. The lack of leadership was also evident as recently as early this month as the Ilya Kovalchuk arbitration process played out.
Fehr, 62, presided over the MLBPA during the 1994 strike, which almost cripped baseball. You can understand why NHL fans, then, might be uncomfortable with Fehr taking over the NHLPA.
Fehr left the MLBPA last June and took over an advisory role with the NHL players union in the weeks following.
We’ll obviously have more on this story as it develops.
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