National Hockey League Players' Association

NHLPA

Full name	National Hockey League Players' Association
Founded	June 1967
Members	1,005 (2007-2008)
Country	Canada United States
Key people	Donald Fehr[1]
Office location	Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Website	NHLPA.com

The National Hockey League Players' Association or NHLPA is the labor union for the group of professional hockey players who are under Standard Player Contracts to the thirty member clubs in the National Hockey League located in the United States and Canada. The Association represents its membership in all matters dealing with their working conditions and contractual rights as well as serving as their exclusive collective bargaining agent.

History

First organizing efforts (1957–1958)

For more details on this topic, see 1957–58 NHL season.

The first NHLPA was formed in 1957 by hockey players Ted Lindsay of the Detroit Red Wings and Doug Harvey of the Montreal Canadiens after the league had refused to release pension plan financial information. The owners broke the union by trading players involved with the organization or sending them to the minor leagues. After an out-of-court settlement over several players' issues, the players disbanded the organization. Lindsay's struggle and the NHL's union-busting efforts are dramatized in the movie, Net Worth.

Alan Eagleson era (1967–1991)

The association formed in June 1967, when representatives of the six NHL teams met and elected Bob Pulford their first president and appointed Alan Eagleson as its executive director.

To prevent the new NHLPA from suffering the fate of its predecessor, Pulford met with the owners of the NHL teams and demanded they recognize the new union or the union would seek official recognition from Canadian Labour Relations Board. Additionally, the players sought guarantees that no member of the new union would be punished for being a member. The owners acceded. In return, the NHLPA agreed that it should represent at least two-thirds of the active players in the NHL and that the players would refrain from striking for the duration of the agreement, so long as the owners did not contravene any terms or conditions.

Bob Goodenow era (1991–2005)

Eagleson stayed on until the end of 1991, when the players replaced him with Bob Goodenow. Eagleson went on to face criminal charges relating to his conduct during the time he worked at the NHLPA, and ultimately, on January 6, 1998, pleaded guilty in a Boston court to three counts of fraud, agreeing also to pay a fine of CA$1,000,000. The following day in Toronto, Eagleson pleaded guilty to another three counts of fraud and was sentenced to 18 months in jail.

Bob Goodenow would seek to restore respect and honour to the Association during his successful 13 years of service to the players as Executive Director. He led all NHLPA members through the strike of 1992, which most notably gave players the rights to the marketing of their own images. In 1994–95, he was at the helm as the players endured 104 days of an owners’ lockout, ensuring that a fair deal was reached. A decade later, the owners locked out the players yet again, becoming the first professional sports league to cancel an entire season. Goodenow would depart following the last owners’ lockout, notifying the players of his resignation in July 2005.

Ted Saskin era (2005–2007)

As Goodenow stepped down, the members of the Association turned to long-time NHLPA Senior Director Ted Saskin as his successor, drawing on his experience within the Association.

The NHLPA Executive Board terminated the employment of Saskin as Executive Director and General Counsel on May 10, 2007, following alleged acts of misconduct. Toronto employment lawyer Chris Paliare concluded Saskin and executive Ken Kim, beginning in September 2005 through January 2007, covertly accessed player email accounts.

As a result of this, the NHLPA under its current administration has put in place strict guidelines that require the highest degree of competence and integrity among employees and player agents.

Paul Kelly era (2007–2009)

On June 28, 2007, the NHLPA's Executive Board selected Michael Cammalleri (Montreal Canadiens), Chris Chelios (Atlanta Thrashers), Shawn Horcoff (Edmonton Oilers), Eric Lindros (retired) and Robyn Regehr (Calgary Flames) to form a search committee for a new Executive Director. With the assistance of Reilly Partners, an executive search firm from Chicago, the search committee would review the resumes of hundreds of candidates.

The committee would ultimately recommend that Paul V. Kelly, a founding partner of Kelly, Libby and Hoopes law firm in Boston, become the fourth Executive Director since the NHLPA’s inception in 1967. Through a secret ballot system, the Player Representatives voted in favour of the committee’s recommendation, and Kelly would be introduced at a media conference on October 24, 2007.

On December 7, 2007, the NHLPA and the David Suzuki Foundation decided to create a pact, led by Boston Bruins defenceman Andrew Ference, which had over 500 NHL players signed up to donate $290 annually to purchase carbon credits in order to offset their regular season travel.

On August 31, 2009, Paul Kelly was fired from the NHLPA.^[2]

On October 30, 2009, interim Executive Director Ian Penny resigned.^[3]

Donald Fehr era (2010-present)

Following Ian Penny's resignation, the NHLPA was without a strong leader. In Late August 2010, it was widely speculated that former Major League Baseball Players Association Executive Director Donald Fehr would be appointed to this position. However, a day after the speculation reached a climax on August 26th, both NHLPA Interim Director Mike Ouellet and Deputy Commissioner and chief legal officer of the NHL Bill Daly disputed the claims that it is all hearsay, and nothing is concrete between the NHLPA and Donald Fehr. However, Fehr would be formally named as executive director later in 2010.

Fehr is seen as a tough negotiator, and with the current NHL collective bargaining agreement (CBA) expiring after the 2011-2012 season, many believe he will be the person to lead the NHLPA in the next round of negotiations.

Organization

While the management of daily operations is the responsibility of the NHLPA Executive Director, the ultimate control over all NHLPA activities resides with the players, who each year elect representatives in order to form an Executive Board. Each of the 30 teams has one representative on the Board.

Executive Directors

• Alan Eagleson, 1967–91
• vacant (due to Eagleson's resignation), 1991–92
• Bob Goodenow, 1992–2005
• Ted Saskin, 2005–07
• Paul Kelly, 2007-August 31, 2009
• Ian Penny (Interim), August 31, 2009-October 30, 2009
• Mike Ouellet (Interim), October 30, 2009-December 18, 2010
• Donald Fehr, December 18, 2010 -

Presidents

• Ted Lindsay (1957-1958)
• Bob Pulford (1967-1972)
• Ken Dryden (1972-1974)
• Pit Martin (1974-1975)
• Bobby Clarke (1975-1979)
• Phil Esposito (1979-February 10, 1981)
• Tony Esposito (February 10, 1981-October 24, 1984)
• Bryan Trottier (October 24, 1984-November 9, 1992)
• Doug Wilson (November 9, 1992-September 13, 1993)
• Mike Gartner (September 13, 1993–1998)
• Trevor Linden (1998–2006)

2009-10 Player Representatives

• George Parros - Anaheim Ducks
• Mark Stuart - Boston Bruins
• Vacant - Buffalo Sabres
• Vacant - Calgary Flames
• Erik Cole - Carolina Hurricanes
• Adam Burish - Chicago Blackhawks
• Vacant - Colorado Avalanche
• Mike Commodore - Columbus Blue Jackets
• Stephane Robidas - Dallas Stars
• Chris Chelios - Detroit Red Wings^[4]
• Shawn Horcoff - Edmonton Oilers
• Bryan Allen - Florida Panthers
• Vacant - Los Angeles Kings
• Nick Schultz - Minnesota Wild
• Josh Gorges - Montreal Canadiens
• Greg de Vries - Nashville Predators
• David Clarkson - New Jersey Devils
• Vacant - New York Islanders
• Brandon Dubinsky - New York Rangers
• Chris Phillips - Ottawa Senators
• Scott Hartnell - Philadelphia Flyers
• Shane Doan - Phoenix Coyotes
• Vacant - Pittsburgh Penguins
• Andy McDonald - St. Louis Blues
• Vacant - San Jose Sharks
• Vincent Lecavalier - Tampa Bay Lightning
• Mike Komisarek - Toronto Maple Leafs
• Vacant - Vancouver Canucks
• Vacant - Washington Capitals
• Vacant - Winnipeg Jets

See also

• Professional Hockey Players' Association

External links

Organized labour portal

• National Hockey League Players' Association
• National Hockey League

References

1. ^ "Fehr voted in as Executive Director of NHLPA". TSN.ca. http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=345965. 
2. ^ "Kelly ousted as head of NHLPA". ESPN.com. 2009-08-31. http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/news/story?id=4433555. 
3. ^ "Ian Penny Resigns From NHLPA". FAN590.com. 2009-10-30. http://www.fan590.com/more.jsp?content=20091030_125114_10196. 
4. ^ "Chris Chelios remains as team's union rep". Freep.com. 2009-10-19. http://www.freep.com/article/20091019/SPORTS05/910190380/1356/SPORTS/Chris-Chelios-remains-as-team-s-union-rep.