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Paul Kelly Didn’t Deserve This
by Paul on 09/01/09 at 07:07 AM ET
Comments (5)
from Damian Cox of the Toronto Star,
Or, more precisely, Kelly got fired because somebody convinced the 30-player executive committee that he hadn’t done enough in less than two years on the job and therefore couldn’t be trusted to lead the next collective bargaining battle.
Those who successfully plotted against him breached constitutional procedures, fudged internal reviews and used a variety of dirty tricks worthy of Watergate to finally triumph at 3:30 a.m. yesterday.
What self-respecting organization fires a key executive at 3:30 in the morning?
If there’s a single smart player on the executive committee, they’ve already figured out they’ve made an awful mistake by being convinced to axe a good man, thereby putting their futures in the hands of Machiavellian suits they wouldn’t trust as teammates.
Maybe that’s why more than 50 players spent yesterday lobbying Kelly’s right-hand man, the widely respected Glenn Healy, to stay on after his colleague Pat Flatley quit in the wake of Kelly’s ouster.
Filed in: NHLPA | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: Paul+Kelly,
Comments
Paul Kelly didn’t need to do anything except improve the NHLPA’s standing with everyone until a time when there was a reason to go to war with the NHL. Nows not the time. The NHLPA lost the lockout but in the end they really didn’t lose because nothing really happened to player salaries and players are getting longer contracts than ever before. Theres no reason for a strike unless the players want to be childish and get “revenge” on Bettman.
Bob Goodenow never had the players’ best interests at heart. He’d stop players from signing low offers to go to where they want to. He didn’t want anyone to show any weakness. His single goal was to keep Bettman under his thumb.
Posted by bcrt on 09/01/09 at 09:22 AM ET
As for Kelly I didn’t see him do much of anything. He seemed to like to smooze with the bigwigs of the NHL. Although there probably isn’t much to do until the contract expires. However, he needed to keep the players on his side because let’s face it...they are all a bunch of rich young guys who really don’t know anything (or want to know anything)about the NHLPA issues and they really don’t care about who leads the union most likely....I still can’t figure out how Lindros has anything to do with hockey. Doesn’t everyone hate him? Players and owners....wasn’t he sleeping with his teammates wife at one point? Maybe to the young player today he was some kind of Canadian hero...he sucked as far as I could see...In the end the fans will get screwed like they always do...there will be a strike and tix prices will go up..just like they always do
Posted by kevin from boston on 09/01/09 at 09:49 AM ET
Talk is now surfacing that Kelly had ordered an internal audit of the PA and had discovered that Lindros and his cronies were spending league funds on unauthorized expenses and that the ongoing audit was the reason Lindros was so keen on ousting Kelly.
If they fired Kelly for doing his job, I hope the PA gets bent over at the next bargaining table. You reap what you sow.
Posted by Mike @ MHH from Oklahoma City, OK on 09/01/09 at 11:23 AM ET
Won’t the guy replacing Paul Kelly be on the job even less time than Kelly when the CBA is up for renewal?
It’s the Chicago/Obama politics, you create chaos and pandemonium and the players are going to have to give in to the NHL/owners.
The KHL is probably going to see a nice bump up in it’s credibility while the NHL / NHLPA is on hiatus negotiating this mess.
Posted by Simian on 09/01/09 at 11:48 AM ET
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Possibly, Paul Kelly didn’t deserve this but I have not seen him do anything.
On the other hand, hockey doesn’t need Damien Cox. His tirades are detrimental to the game.
Actually, the NHL is no better.
Posted by Ted from Innisfil, Ontario on 09/01/09 at 07:50 AM ET