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Entries with the tag: Donald+Fehr
All Donald Fehr
by Paul on 01/25/12 at 03:10 PM ET
Comments (2)
from Adam Proteau of The Hockey News,
The Hockey News: In regard to realignment, many have focused on your rejection of the league’s plans, but fewer have focused on the league’s insistence of a hard deadline, which is ultimately what caused your rejection. This isn’t the first instance the league has been aggressive with the PA during the current CBA, is it?
Donald Fehr: The league went into their owners meeting, they came out with a realignment plan, and obviously it required the players’ consent. We got into the details on it, we found out the background and information and there were two significant issues from the players’ standpoint: one was assurances as to what the travel would be, and unfortunately, we weren’t able to get those assurances. The league was not in the position even to give us a drafted schedule, which makes any analysis very difficult.
The second issue was access to the playoffs, where in the proposed seven-team divisions you’d have a permanent advantage in terms of access, because you’d only have to beat three teams to qualify, whereas in the eight team divisions you’d have to beat four. The players looked at it, but we weren’t in a position to consent. Whether the deadline was aggressive or not, I don’t really know. All I can say is that we offered – and if the league wants to, we’d be willing now – to meet with them to discuss these issues and see if a resolution could be found. So far, that’s not something they’ve indicated they’re prepared to do.
THN: Has the PA looked at making a counter-proposal for realignment, something that would address the concerns you have regarding travel and competitive advantage? Or do you sit back and wait for the league to drive the bus on that issue?
continued with more hot topics discussed…
Filed in: NHL Talk, NHLPA | KK Hockey | Permalink
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Fehr Not Sure What To Expect When CBA Talks Start
by Paul on 10/31/11 at 11:09 PM ET
Comments (3)
from Helene Elliott of the LA Times,
NBA players have agreed to cut their share of basketball-related income from 57% to 52.5%, but owners want a 50-50 split. There’s nothing to stop the NHL, whose players got 57% of revenue last season, for asking for a reduction and threatening a loss of paychecks.
“As a union you treat a strike, which is the counterpart of a lockout, as a last resort and you hope that management treats a lockout the same way,” Fehr said by phone Monday.
“The objective fact is that in football and basketball this year and hockey the last time, in fact, management did not treat it as a last resort. Will it be different this time? We’ll know soon enough. But I don’t know yet.”
read on with some quotes from player agents…
Filed in: NHL Talk, NHLPA | KK Hockey | Permalink
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Fehr Needs A Plan
by Paul on 10/02/11 at 07:39 AM ET
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from Larry Brooks of the NY Post,
In the NHL, a rising tide sinks small ships. The more revenue generated by major-market, money-printing machines such as Toronto, the Rangers, Montreal, Philadelphia and Vancouver—thus inflating the “gross”—the more money small-market clubs such as St. Louis, the Islanders, Carolina and Florida are mandated by league law to spend on payroll because of the patently preposterous cap floor.
Eliminating the floor should be Priority 1 for PA chief Donald Fehr next time around. This notion that Carolina’s payroll should somehow be directly related to Toronto’s revenue is not only absurd, it means the Hurricanes necessarily will lose more money, thus both increases escrow while fueling the self-fulfilling prophecy of increased losses by small-market clubs that sends Bettman into the labor battle with the hammer to demand give-backs because of rising losses by small-market teams.
The man is actually quite ingenious, come to think of it.
The floor is supposed to guarantee the holy grail of competitive balance, but it doesn’t. Buyouts go toward the floor. Entry Level bonuses that may never be and quite often never are attained, go toward the floor.
Forcing franchises that can’t afford it to commit a certain portion of their assets to payroll means they have less to invest in scouting and player development, areas fundamental to long-term success.
Filed in: NHL Talk, NHLPA | KK Hockey | Permalink
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Bettman/Fehr Release Statement Regarding Recent Deaths Of NHL Players
by Paul on 09/01/11 at 03:13 PM ET
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NEW YORK/TORONTO (September 1, 2011)—The following statement was released jointly today by Don Fehr, Executive Director of the National Hockey League Players’ Association, and Gary Bettman, Commissioner of the National Hockey League:
“Everyone at the National Hockey League and the National Hockey League Players’ Association is profoundly saddened by the loss, within a matter of a few weeks, of three young men, each of whom was in the prime of his life.
“While the circumstances of each case are unique, these tragic events cannot be ignored. We are committed to examining, in detail, the factors that may have contributed to these events, and to determining whether concrete steps can be taken to enhance player welfare and minimize the likelihood of such events taking place. Our organizations are committed to a thorough evaluation of our existing assistance programs and practices and will make immediate modifications and improvements to the extent they are deemed warranted.
“It is important to ensure that every reasonable step and precaution is taken to make NHL Players, and all members of the NHL family, aware of the vast resources available to them when they are in need of assistance. We want individuals to feel comfortable seeking help when they need help.
“NHL Clubs and our fans should know that every avenue will be explored and every option pursued in the furtherance of this objective.”
Filed in: NHL Teams, NHL Talk, NHLPA | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: Donald+Fehr, Gary+Bettman,
Evening Line
by Paul on 04/06/11 at 10:09 PM ET
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“They grow on you — I just don’t think there is any other way to put it. They seem to be earnest. They seem to want to put the organization back together. They want to do a good job for themselves. And they appear to be interested in working on it. ... They care.”
-Donald Fehr, Executive Director of the NHLPA on the NHL players. More from Kevin Allen of USA TODAY.
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The Fehr Approach
by Paul on 03/12/11 at 08:26 AM ET
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from Damien Cox of the Toronto Star,
You’d think he would have. Just as a matter of protocol.
You know, talked to Sidney Crosby.
“I have not talked to him directly in the last several weeks,” confirmed Don Fehr.
Strange.
Peculiar that — with Crosby’s standing as the game’s most important player, with Fehr new to his politically complex job as executive director of the NHL Players’ Association, and with the hockey landscape seemingly littered with zombie-like, concussed players like Crosby unable to deal with bright lights or even turn the wheels of an exercise bike — Fehr wouldn’t have been in closer contact with the sidelined Pittsburgh Penguins star.
Then again, maybe this is the slow but steady, turtle-beats-the-hare approach to governing. That may also explain why he’s only attended, by his count, “four or five” games since taking over the job on Dec. 18, a job for which he is reportedly being paid $3.5 million per year — “a little high,” says he.
Filed in: NHLPA | KK Hockey | Permalink
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Video- Let’s Meet Donald Fehr
by Paul on 12/19/10 at 09:13 AM ET
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Elliotte Friedman talks to a few folks about Donald Fehr, including 93 year old Marvin Miller.
Then Ron MacLean sits down with Fehr and numerous topics are touched upon.
Filed in: NHL Media, Hockey Broadcasting, CBC HNIC, NHLPA | KK Hockey | Permalink
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Don’t Judge Fehr Yet
by Paul on 12/18/10 at 06:47 PM ET
Comments (11)
from Damian Cox of the Toronto Star,
It won’t take very long for Don Fehr to be misunderstood.
Hockey fans, you can bet, are already drawing a line between his official ascension on Saturday to the role of NHL Players Association boss and the next shutdown of their favourite sport, likely in the fall of 2012.
After all, this is the guy who organized all those nasty baseball strikes, right?
Well, the reality is Fehr is a more complicated than that. Pigeonholing him would be as large an error as underestimating him.
Filed in: NHLPA | KK Hockey | Permalink
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Your New NHLPA Executive Director
by Paul on 12/18/10 at 09:39 AM ET
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TORONTO, ON (December 18, 2010) – The National Hockey League Players’ Association (NHLPA) announced today that the full membership of the NHLPA has voted overwhelmingly to appoint Don Fehr as the new NHLPA Executive Director, following the Executive Board’s endorsement.
Fehr, 62, is the former Executive Director of the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) where he worked for the players for 33 years, serving as Executive Director from 1983 until 2009.
“I am both humbled and honored by the expression of confidence that the players’ vote reflects,” said Don Fehr, NHLPA Executive Director. “I’m looking forward to working closely with the membership and the Executive Board.”
Filed in: NHLPA | KK Hockey | Permalink
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Fehr About To Start Working
by Paul on 11/15/10 at 09:25 PM ET
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from David Shoalts of the Globe and Mail,
The long courtship of Donald Fehr by the NHL Players’ Association is coming to an end and the official announcement could come as early as Friday, according to an NHL source with close ties to the union….
Once Fehr takes office, his to-do list may not have a long number of tasks but each of them is time-consuming. Negotiations for a new collective agreement to replace the one that expires in 2012 is at the top of the list, followed by items like hiring a second-in-command who will be Fehr’s designated successor and revitalizing a membership beaten down by losing the lockout in 2005 and then getting slapped down on a regular basis by NHL owners and management.
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Leader Fehr
by Paul on 10/24/10 at 07:38 AM ET
Comments (1)
from Larry Brooks of the NY Post,
Here, essentially, is the message presumptive NHLPA executive director Donald Fehr has been presenting to the players during the autumn tour preceding union balloting: “Hire me to lead or don’t hire me at all.”
This, according to sources, is the ultimate condition of employment for Fehr, who has been selling nothing more than himself and his collective bargaining accomplishments as leader of the MLBPA throughout this low-key campaign that was borne as much out of a draft as a burning desire to go to the table (or the mat) one more time on behalf of professional athletes.
The PA will not operate as a democracy in collective bargaining. It can’t. It must give its leader the same authority as the NHL has given Gary Bettman. If not, the league simply will wait for the players’ house to divide and fall, as it did the last time. If not, the players might as well give in now and save everyone the aggravation when the CBA expires before 2012-13.
That’s the meaning of the message Fehr has been delivering to the players, who, we’re told, have been nothing but receptive to it.
Filed in: NHLPA | KK Hockey | Permalink
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Afternoon Line
by Paul on 10/18/10 at 01:00 PM ET
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“He came and touched base with our whole team and kind of gave us the short-term plan for right now, for how the P.A. is going and how he sees himself taking over. That’s my third or fourth time talking to him, throughout the meetings and everything this summer. I’m real impressed. He has a pretty good presence about him, with his knowledge and experience, and I think that rubs off on the guys and makes the guys pretty excited about where this is going. I think everybody is real happy about him coming on board and helping us out.”
-Matt Greene, LA Kings union rep on Donald Fehr. Via Rich Hammond of LA Kings Insider.
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Tags: Donald+Fehr, Matt+Greene,
Morning Line
by Paul on 09/13/10 at 07:03 AM ET
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The Fehr-to-the-NHLPA saga seems to have been resolved, or has it? With the vote on accepting Fehr apparently going to the membership, most of the media coverage centred on Fehr’s fearsome reputation as at the Major League Baseball Players Association.
But key Fehr elements have been missed so far by the media. First, the supposedly implacable Fehr settled a collective bargaining agreement with MLB in 2002 without any work stoppage - and well before the eleventh hour. Second, we have yet to see the report commissioned by the NHLPA about Paul Kelly’s dismissal released to the press. Is Fehr’s role in the midnight massacre discussed? Before players vote, should they not see the contents of the report that was delayed at Fehr’s suggestion?
-Bruce Dowbiggin of the Globe and Mail.
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Morning Line
by Paul on 09/12/10 at 08:57 AM ET
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” I found that I liked hockey players very, very much..
“I didn’t envision working for another union, but when you represent professional athletes for as long and as intensively as I have, you get a lot of enjoyment and satisfaction out of it.”
-Donald Fehr, who is close to being named Executive Director of the NHLPA. More on Fehr from Jim Matheson of the Edmonton Journal.
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One More Step For Donald Fehr
by Paul on 09/11/10 at 12:34 PM ET
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TORONTO (September 11, 2010): The National Hockey League Players’ Association (NHLPA) announced today that its Executive Board has voted to accept the recommendation of the Search Committee (Ryan Getzlaf, Jamie Langenbrunner, Brian Rafalski, Brian Rolston and Mathieu Schneider) that Don Fehr be named the new NHLPA Executive Director.
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NHLPA Search Committee Could Recommend Fehr Today
by Paul on 09/08/10 at 11:59 AM ET
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from Ken Campbell of The Hockey News,
The coronation of Donald Fehr as executive director of the NHL Players’ Association could receive a significant boost during a conference call this afternoon.
It would mean Fehr, who has been an unpaid advisor with the NHLPA for months and has been coy about his intentions for the top job, could become an official candidate and the frontrunner for the job as early as today.
It’s possible during the call the search committee will formally submit Fehr’s name for the vacant executive director’s job and recommend that he be hired. The executive committee, which is comprised of the 30 player representatives, would then hold a vote on whether or not to put the matter to a ratification vote of the full membership during training camp.
Filed in: NHLPA | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: Donald+Fehr,
Still No NHLPA Leader
by Paul on 09/02/10 at 11:42 AM ET
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from Larry Brooks of the NY Post,
The NHLPA remains without an executive director after Wednesday night’s conference call among the 30 player reps comprising the union’s executive board adjourned without taking a vote on installing Donald Fehr to the position, The Post has learned….
Fehr, who told the PA’s search committee last week that he would accept the position of executive director, has given the executive board his conditions for employment.
They include:
- Salary of $3M per year to run through completion of collective bargaining after the current CBA expires following the 2011-12 season.
- Salary of $1.5M for the remainder of this year.
Filed in: NHLPA | KK Hockey | Permalink
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Evening Line
by Paul on 09/01/10 at 08:16 PM ET
Comments (3)
As the former head of baseball’s player union, Fehr led that group to a series of spectacular but bloody victories over management.
You can argue about his methods until you’re blue in the face but you can’t argue the results and it seems the PA has noticed the same thing.
You just hope the NHL has taken notice. Fehr has been brought in for a reason. And it isn’t to laugh with Gary and Lou about their high jinks.
-Ed Willes of the Vancouver Province. More on the NHL/NHLPA situation.
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Evening Line
by Paul on 08/26/10 at 09:32 PM ET
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Here’s hoping he treats the endeavour with a serious, sober purpose and doesn’t contribute to running the sport off the cliff again. That’s happened too often in the NHL’s past couple of decades, recalcitrant leaders on both sides unable to negotiate fair agreements that can keep the game on the ice, growing and thriving the way it is now.
Sadly, hockey’s recent history has shown that just when things are going well, owners and players find a way to mess it up. It would behoove all sides to remember the sage words of philosopher George Santayana: Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.
-Eric Duhatschek of the Globe and Mail on Donald Fehr and the NHL. Read more on this topic.
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Talking Donald Fehr
by Paul on 08/26/10 at 11:25 AM ET
Comments (21)
from Eric Duhatschek of the Globe and Mail,
The day after news broke that Donald Fehr was poised to become the new executive director of the NHL players association, just about all the message boards agreed: Armageddon is just around the corner.
Fehr oversaw major league baseball’s players association for 26 years, a period of time characterized by a major steroid scandal and a series of contentious negotiations with the owners over the collective bargaining agreement.
If Fehr brings his confrontational style to the NHLPA, could another work stoppage be on the horizon, just five years after the NHL lost the 2004-05 season as a result of a labor dispute?
According to NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly, it doesn’t necessarily have to be that way.
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The Pendulum Swings Again With Donald Fehr
by Paul on 08/26/10 at 07:52 AM ET
Comments (2)
from Jeff Marek of CBC,
And once again, the pendulum has swung back from the middle ground of a Paul Kelly (whose philosophies nestled nicely between the “take-no-prisoners” attitude of Bob Goodenow to the “take-whatever-you-need” vibe of Ted Saskin) to more of a hardliner in Fehr.
It should come to nobody’s surprise that both Fehr and Goodenow have a relationship that stretches back many years and are both cut from the same “scrap over every issue” cloth.
The timing is interesting, on the heels of a major Players’ Association loss at the gavel of arbitrator Richard Bloch, who ruled Ilya Kovalchuk’s 17-year contract with the New Jersey Devils a circumvention of the salary cap and the further disclosure that the NHL is investing other deals of a similar variety.
Many within the PA feel this was the league flexing its muscles at a time when the players were without any sort of leadership to mount any substantial challenge.
Make no mistake, these are fights that Fehr craves and thrives on.
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Report- Donald Fehr Agrees To Accept NHLPA Executive Director Position
by Paul on 08/25/10 at 06:16 PM ET
Comments (6)
via Liz Mullen of SportsBusiness Journal (goes to main page),
Former MLBPA Executive Director Don Fehr has agreed to accept the job of NHLPA executive director, according to multiple sources.
Attempts to confirm this with Fehr or with the NHLPA were not immediately successful.
Sources said other candidates have been informed they are no longer in the running for the top job. The search committee’s decision to recommend Fehr would still have to be confirmed by the entire board of player reps, sources said.
You can also follow Liz on Twitter.
added 8:29pm, via Nick Kypreos tweet,
Confirmed Fehr accepted PA Exec Dir job on interim basis. Source says this will be a short term solution for PA that will get them to 2012
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Will Donald Fehr Take The NHLPA Job?
by Paul on 07/12/10 at 02:56 PM ET
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from Chris Johnston of the CP at the Globe and Mail,
The ball is clearly in Donald Fehr’s court.
A number of NHL players threw their support behind Fehr on the eve of meetings for the NHLPA’s executive board. Speaking at the union’s charity golf tournament on Monday afternoon, Toronto Maple Leafs defenceman Mike Komisarek said he was “crossing his fingers” that Fehr would accept a leadership position with the union.
“He’d be a huge asset for the NHLPA,” said Komisarek. “To have him come in and lead this union, to round up and gather 700 guys and get them on the same page would be great.”
added 4:27pm, more on this topic from David Shoalts of the Globe and Mail…
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Time For Fehr
by Paul on 03/28/10 at 07:35 AM ET
Comments (1)
from Larry Brooks of the NY Post,
The NHLPA needs to adopt a constitution that empowers its executive director. The NHLPA needs to hire an executive director the membership trusts to use that power honorably in dealing with the NHL, the players and their agents.
The NHLPA needs a leader who will do the job and not simply want to have the job. The NHLPA needs a leader immune to second-guessing from the gallery. The NHLPA needs a leader whose presence and prestige will unify the membership for the next round of CBA negotiations.
It is time.
It is time for Donald Fehr.
Filed in: NHLPA | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: Donald+Fehr,
NHLPA Would Be Stronger With Fehr In Charge
by Paul on 03/27/10 at 11:17 PM ET
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from Jeff Z. Klein and Stu Hackel of Slapshot at the NY Times,
Many players and agents want (Donald) Fehr to become the union’s executive director.
Aaron Voros, the Rangers’ player representative, said last week that it would be a “no brainer” to have Fehr heading the union.
Pat Brisson, who represents Sidney Crosby and several other stars, said: “Someone like him, with all his experience, brings in a breath of fresh air. When you have a chance to spend time with him, you feel privileged.”
The union and Fehr have come a long way since November. He was newly retired from a 26-year tenure as leader of the Major League Baseball Players Association, the strongest union in sports, and the only one in North America to successfully resist a salary cap.
Filed in: NHLPA | KK Hockey | Permalink
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Support Building For Donald Fehr As NHLPA Executive Director
by Paul on 03/25/10 at 06:57 PM ET
Comments (6)
from the CP at NHL.com,
Donald Fehr didn’t come out and say he was interested in taking the vacant executive director’s position with the NHL Players’ Association, but it’s clear a growing number of people within the game would like to see it happen.
The long-time head of the baseball players’ union spoke for a couple hours at the NHL’s annual agents meeting Thursday and won over a number of guys in the room.
“You don’t run an association like the Major League Baseball Players’ Association as long as he has without being substantive, powerful, politically correct, reasoned and very intelligent,” said Pat Morris of Newport Sports. “He displayed all elements today.”
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Afternoon Line
by Paul on 03/24/10 at 01:36 PM ET
Comments (5)
If (Donald) Fehr assumes a significant leadership role within the NHLPA, the union will immediately regain some of the creditability it has lost in recent years. The NHLPA will also be in a stronger bargaining position with NHL leadership if Fehr is at the helm.
Jeff Levine of the Biz of Hockey. More on Fehr…
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