Inside the NHL
Fehr helps clean up NHLPA mess
Published: November 21, 2009, 10:30 pm
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The NHL Players Association is searching for a new executive director, which on the surface seems less entertaining than a table of accountants. Nothing against accountants, mind you, but people generally don't wedge themselves into arenas, spend $25 on parking and $10 for a beer to watch them work their calculators.
It's much the same with the NHPLA.
The only time people want to hear from the dysfunctional players' union is when it reaches a collective bargaining agreement with the NHL. Fans aren't concerned with the inner-office workings and endless politics. They care about the action.
Fair enough, but a healthy union leads to more stability for the NHL because players are less worried about greedy owners. More leverage and extended peace begins with the union cleaning up its own mess. The NHLPA was in disarray for two months before forming two committees that should help them rebuild from the ruins.
One will review the NHLPA's constitution, which is littered with enough legal mumbo-jumbo to handcuff the brightest at Harvard Law. The other will search for a new chief to replace Paul Kelly, the Boston-based lawyer who never should have been fired.
"There's definitely an appearance of confusion and disorganization within our union," Sabres defenseman Steve Montador said. "The fact of the matter is that there aren't a whole lot of people running the ship right now, which I guess keeps the slate clean. We need to establish an executive director and have a constitution that's simple and direct."
One power hitter jumping aboard is Donald Fehr, who spent 25 years turning the Major League Baseball Players Association into the most powerful union in professional sports. Fehr is lending his experience and expertise to both committees within the NHLPA with the idea it can reorganize before the stakes grow higher.
The current CBA runs through September 2011 unless the union decides to pick up an option to extend it for another year.
Montador is working with the constitution committee along with Florida forward Dominic Moore, Boston goalie Tim Thomas and Dallas goalie Marty Turco. Their job includes figuring out how the union's bylaws should read, how it should be structured and establishing a clear chain of command.
Kelly tried establishing control as executive director but often didn't have the authority within his own office. He was greeted with resistance and complaints about paperwork, sources said, and was fired after a review of his office. He was gone Aug. 31 without having an opportunity to show he was the right man for the job.
"Anybody could have come in, whether they were the right person or the wrong person, and been set up to fail," Montador said. "That's what the constitution did. That's why I volunteered to get on this board. It's an important part of our structure.
"I believe [Kelly] had the right intentions of the players. Whether he should have stayed or not, that's not what I'm trying to say. But he was set up to fail like anybody would have been within this constitution."
It explains why the next valid reason for firing Kelly would be the first. Booting him was the latest mistake in a long history of trouble for the NHLPA. The first executive director, Alan Eagleson, wound up in prison for stealing money from the union. Bob Goodenow took over for 15 years and was canned after promising players there would be no salary cap and eventually being forced into accepting one.
His replacement, Ted Saskin, was pushed into office amid turmoil from players who questioned whether he was properly hired. He was fired after a scandal in which players accused him of reading their e-mails. Along came Kelly, who many believe should still have the job if not for a panel that fired him.
Since his departure, interim Ian Penny has come and gone along with an eight-member advisory board. Ombudsman Buzz Hargrove also split and last week received a court order to turn over all NHLPA-related documents to the union.
Fehr, who is leaving baseball after next season, has expressed no interest in switching sports and working for the NHLPA. He will help the search committee once members figure out qualifications that will be required of the next union boss. Some are looking for a business background while others want another lawyer.
"Like anything, you have to know what you want before you can find it," Montador said. "We definitely want to have a relationship to grow the business of hockey with the NHL. We're both in it for the same thing, which is growing this game. ... I would like to say we could work together and have a better relationship in the future. It would be ideal, but we have to take care of our own side of the street first."
Filatov sent packing
The Blue Jackets waved goodbye — or bid good riddance — to former first-round pick Nikita Filatov. The left winger packed his bags and returned home after a one-year loan agreement was reached with CSKA Moscow. He could return next year, but there's a better chance that he's gone for good.
Filatov played only 13 games and was a healthy scratch for six others while spending most of his time in Ken Hitchcock's doghouse. Hitch has a reputation for being tough on Europeans, but his real beef with the sixth pick overall in 2008 was his lack of aggression and unwillingness to play defense.
"It doesn't matter if you are from Russia or the Czech Republic or from Iraq," Czech forward Jake Voracek said. "If you are a good player who plays hard, you are going to play. It doesn't matter who is the coach."
Clutterbuck had Tavares' back
Wild winger Cal Clutterbuck was thinking about old times last week while awaiting his first pro meeting with Islanders rookie John Tavares. The two played together for two seasons for OHL Oshawa, starting when Tavares was not quite 15 years old. Clutterbuck was three years older.
"He sure helped my career," Clutterbuck told the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.
Clutterbuck had 35 goals and 89 points while playing on the same line with Tavares in 2006-07. Tavares had 72 goals, breaking Wayne Gretzky's record for 16-year-olds, and finished the season with 134 points. Clutterbuck also remembers protecting Tavares one night when Patrick Kaleta was stalking him.
"I hit him with a football block," Clutterbuck said. "He was going in to kill Johnny and I came out of nowhere and just hammered him. He never hit Johnny again. Johnny was the franchise guy and my job was to make sure nothing too crazy happened to him."
Afinogenov's game reborn
Maxim Afinogenov has rediscovered his game with the Thrashers, collecting eight goals and 19 points in his first 18 games. He's been playing on a line with Nik Antropov and Ilya Kovalchuk, which would help anybody's game.
"Maxie has a second life after taking a beating from the coach in Buffalo," Kovalchuk told reporters last week.
Wrong. For the umpteenth time, nobody was more to blame for Afinogenov's problems over his final two years in Buffalo than Afinogenov. He played his own game, his own style and kept his linemates and coach Lindy Ruff off balance.
Afinogenov is no different than many players across the league who need a change of scenery after a certain number of years in the same place. It's why he should have been shipped out at least two-plus years ago before the Sabres wasted $7 million trying to save him.
No good deed goes unpunished
Scott Niedermayer looked helpless — and he was — last week after handing his stick over the glass with the intention of giving it to a young girl only to see a brawl break out between fans in the first two rows in the Duck Pond.
Niedermayer was trying to make the gesture after he was named the first star for scoring 52 seconds into overtime in a 4-3 victory over the Lightning. It became so heated that Niedermayer had to say for whom it was intended during an interview over the public-address system. If only the Ducks showed the same passion. You can find the incident on the Sabres Edge blog.
"It was for the little girl," he said. "The little girl was sitting there, so it's for her. She gets it."
Quotable
Thrashers coach John Anderson on the difference between coaching in the NHL compared to the AHL: "Payday."
Around the boards
• Colorado had a terrific start to the season, but keep an eye on goalie Craig Anderson. He had a 12-5-3 record, a 2.40 goals-against average and a .927 save percentage in his first 20 games. He could play 65 games this season, plus the Olympics. Last year, he played a career-high 31 games. He looks like a candidate for burnout.
• Former Sabres first-round pick Brad May, now in his 19th season, has been giving Red Wings teammate Justin Abdelkader pointers about fighting. "I remember when I was his age and the opportunity that I was provided," May said. "It took guys that I played with — Pat LaFontaine, Colin Patterson, Dale Hawerchuk, Dave Andreychuk — that helped me along and gave me advice. He's a smart kid. He's all ears and he's a heck of a player."
• The Flames had just 15 man-games lost to injury going into the weekend, 100 fewer than the Oilers this season, before they lost top two-way forward Rene Bourque to an apparent concussion. Bourque was caught with his head down and knocked silly when Blackhawks defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson nailed him Thursday in the neutral zone.
• Oilers winger Fernando Pisani, also known as a pitchman for LivingwithUC.com while fighting ulcerative colitis, is back on the shelf after the problem flared. He had played only 100 out of 186 games over two-plus seasons while trying to overcome colitis and back and leg injuries.
• Trade rumors last week had troubled Canadiens forward Sergei Kostitsyn, suiting up these days for AHL Hamilton, going to the Oilers for soft third-liner Andrew Cogliano. Kostitsyn played with Oilers center Sam Gagner in OHL London. Cogliano wouldn't make the Habs any better, but it would relieve their headache with Kostitsyn.
• Ottawa center Mike Fisher, leading his team with nine goals, believes his relationship with former American Idol star Carrie Underwood has contributed to his strong start. "She takes credit for it," he said with a laugh. "Every part of my life is good. I feel blessed and very fortunate."
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