There are two things that happened in the last few weeks that are massive potential game changers in the world of the NHL, and neither one will have (most likely) much impact this coming season. They are:
1) Stephen Walkom, the head of officiating for the NHL, stepped down, and,
2) The NHLPA fired their Executive Director, Paul Kelly.
The officiating will stay the course, but the second item, that needs some fleshing out.
Can we be perfectly honest here? The Players Association is not even close to a real union. For the most part, it is there to negotiate a contract, and then make nicey-nice with the players and public in between bargaining sessions. The membership is more complacent than a bartender working a noon shift, and are happy to tell you so for as long as you will listen. This is a “union” that is OK with it’s membership punching each other in the face. Most places, that sort of thing wouldn’t fly.
I point to this article on Wikipedia (the last bastion for facts in the world) whenever I bring up the NHLPA, because their first executive director was convicted of fraud (read about the charges and conviction here). If you don’t believe that source, read the book. It’s enlightening, and should be hockey history 101 for anyone who follows the business side of hockey.
Even Bob Goodenow wasn’t the best person for the union. From installing his own guy through back door policies as head of the union, to being non-existant in the CBA negotiations following the lockout, Goodenow wasn’t nearly as good for the NHLPA as he was touted to be. Any CBA that ends in a glad-handing “partnership” is basically code for ” You just got your back side handed to you.”
It didn’t shock me that Paul Kelly, the man who was hired after a long search – after the Players Association gave the owners everything the ever wanted (but got their own separate hotel rooms after a certain age), after the PA caved on their unifying cry of “no salary cap,” after the players came back needing a solid labor leader after licking their wounds – was let go. The players have always wanted someone who will handle them with kids gloves, regardless of what they actually need. And what they need is someone who can take care of the business side of things, while the players go do what they care about. It turns out they had that guy. They should have kept him.
Frankly, the NHLPA deserves anything they get. They deserve to have their asses handed to them in the next CBA. They deserve to be paying escrow to the owners for the privilege of playing hockey. They deserve a salary cap. They deserve a new executive director that will roll over for the league, because that is what the players want: ie – To play hockey at the expense of everything else.
Now, even the high and mighty Sidney Crosby wants answers. Hell, I want answers. I want to know what it was that actually pushed the union into letting Kelly go. All we have heard so far is speculation and hearsay. From being too cozy with Bettman and the league (so first you’re a partnership, then you aren’t), to improper email conduct (aka Ted Saskin part two), to conducting an audit of the union that some players didn’t like, we have heard it all, and so far none of it sticks. While we aren’t entitled to know everything, something is going to come out of this mess, and I think it’s going to be ugly.
There has never been a solid Players Association for the NHL. The closest they came was the early Goodenow years, before the crash came after years of prosperity. It’s time for the players to step up and treat their business like they own it. They need to go back and look at the sacrifices the players that came before them made to ensure fair treatment in a time when owners held all the cards.
Ed Lover says it best:
Sometimes, these blog post write themselves.
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