NHL's union wants him, but Fehr drops no hint of unretiring
Donald Fehr may or may not become the next leader of the NHL players association. We won't know either way until the middle of next month when the union's 30 executive board members get their first chance to vote on a potential candidate.
In other words, it was completely accurate for a senior PA official to label as premature reports this week that Fehr would be taking the job. Of course the former Major League Baseball union boss has never actually indicated he wants to come out of retirement. But there's only so much golf one can play, so the 62-year-old Fehr has been acting as an unpaid adviser to the NHLPA for nearly a year, tasked with helping a union -- fractured since the lockout -- develop a new constitution and find a new boss.
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| Donald Fehr has been advising the NHLPA and has become a favorite for the job in the process. (Getty Images) |
The four-day gathering that brought together officials from the NHL, the International Ice Hockey Federation, Russia's KHL and representatives from junior, college and women’s hockey to talk about serious topics like head shots, NHL participation in the Olympics and long-term player development. Yet the biggest stir was caused by Fehr. And he wasn't even in the house.
No doubt Fehr would have the most immediate impact on the game as union leader with the start of negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement getting closer, and maybe dangerously so. The current deal expires in 2012 and it's not hard to find those who believe Fehr would move the NHL closer to another and potentially devastating lockout when it does.
Fehr is a skilled negotiator but a hard liner who made baseball players very rich during his 26-year tenure that included five contract negotiations and one strike. For their part though, hockey players have done a lot better financially than they might have expected coming out of the lockout, thanks to a growing overall revenue base that has lifted the salary cap floor higher than the ceiling was when play resumed.
Now however, the NHL is looking for a lot of givebacks in the next contract and that's not something Fehr generally does. That style wouldn't necessarily be a problem for the players -- they did pretty well under similarly driven Bob Goodenow didn't they? -- if hockey had the same revenues and affinity that baseball does in most of its major markets, but it doesn't. And since Fehr is not known for being compromising his ascension would suggest the players are ready for a fight.
Already there is a sense among many of them that the NHL has taken advantage of the rudderless union to flex its muscles, especially in the wake of an arbitrator upholding the league's rejection of Ilya Kovalchuk's 17-year deal with the New Jersey Devils. The decision emboldened the league to start examining other similarly structured contracts given to Roberto Luongo, Marc Savard, Marian Hossa and Chris Pronger, and there is talk that the league wants to put some kind of limits on contracts in the next CBA.
That's the kind of fight that Fehr used to thrive on and one that would likely get his juices going. That's what the players want. And they should be careful what they wish for.
Let me be clear
International Ice Hockey Federation president Rene Fasel raised a few eyebrows this week with an impolitic response to a question about the NHL trying to establish a division in Europe.
"Try to come," Fasel said flatly. "Good luck."
Fasel made his comment at the World Hockey Summit in a session that dealt with European concerns about North American hockey institutions raised as both important allies and potential dangers to the global game. Among the issues for those overseas were the NHL and the Canadian Hockey League, its junior counterpart, raiding foreign talent pools. And Fasel wanted everyone to know there is now a line in the sand. "This is our territory and I will fight like hell to not allow anybody to come from abroad," Fasel said. "I think in Europe we are strong enough to do something on our own, and then have the competition between Europe and North America. That makes the fan happy."
Of course, that competition has to come at an international level, particularly at the Olympics when the NHL participates, something Fasel wants to continue. But a growing number of NHL governors are leery about committing to Sochi, Russia in 2014 for a variety of reasons, the biggest being that the league reaps no financial benefit and risks injuries by releasing its players for a two-week period.
Certainly, there was a superb exposure factor for the NHL this year at Vancouver because of Team USA's stirring run to the gold medal game. But with the next tournament set in a place that is unfriendly to North American viewing times, there is little upside.
Instead, there is a growing appetite among NHL types to establish a regular World Cup tournament that would be played in North America with television and arena revenues controlled by the league.
Icings
The Anaheim Ducks are still trying to come to terms with budding young star Bobby Ryan. Back in June, Ducks GM Bob Murray went public with his displeasure that Ryan rejected a five-year, $25 million offer. The two sides have been stalemated since then and with training camp approaching, there have been suggestions that the player is looking for a trade. But Ryan denied that in an interview this week with the Orange County Register.
"I don't want a trade," Ryan said. "I'm not asking for a trade. I want to be here in Anaheim."
Looks like the Vancouver Canucks will try to take some of the pressure off goalie Roberto Luongo by taking away the team captaincy from him. GM Mike Gillis dropped hints about his plan at a recent fan forum in Vancouver, and said he would be discussing the situation with his netminder before training. Luongo is the only NHL goalie to be a captain.
Speaking of taking pressure off a goalie, but in a different way, the Chicago Blackhawks made life a lot easier for much-maligned Cristobal Huet by setting up a deal to loan Huet to a Swiss league team. The details are still being finalized, and Chicago will still have to pay the veteran $5.625 million this season. But the salary of the netminder who has been a major disappointment since signing a big free-agent deal in 2008 won't count against the cap and that's a big help to the 'Hawks.
