Entries with the tag: paul+kelly

NHL Player Agents Meet Paul Kelly

by Alanah on 03/26/08 at 07:47 PM
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From the Canadian Press via TSN,

Some of the NHL’s most powerful agents got their first real glimpse of the new executive director of the NHL Players’ Association on Wednesday, and they liked what they saw.

Paul Kelly met with more than 100 player agents for the first time since he started on the job five months ago.

“You get a sense that he’s passionate and he’s got a vision,” said agent Pat Brisson of CAA Sports. “He wants to protect the players obviously but he wants to grow the game - which is fantastic.’

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Posturing

by Paul on 01/30/08 at 08:56 AM
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from Al Strachan at Fox Sports,

Don’t be fooled by that little charade this past weekend — the one in which National Hockey League Players’ Association head Paul Kelly chastised NHL commissioner Gary Bettman for scheduling a game in Europe next season.

It’s all part of the game as Kelly tried to find his footing in his new job.

The source of Kelly’s difficulties is the fact that he represents a diverse group. He’s got some of the bend-over-and-take-it variety. They were the ones who led the revolt against one of Kelly’s predecessors, Bob Goodenow.

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Long Time Listener, First Time Caller

by Paul on 01/24/08 at 06:39 PM
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from the CP,

All was warm and friendly as NHL commissioner Gary Bettman interviewed NHL Players Association executive director Paul Kelly on his weekly radio show on Thursday.

“Paul has been really good to deal with,” Bettman said after the 15-minute interview ended on the NHL Hour show on XM Radio from New York.

The two men represent opposing sides in a league that had the entire 2004-05 season wiped out by a lockout, but Kelly is the new man, taking over three months ago after the house-cleaning that swept former boss Ted Saskin out of the NHLPA.

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added 6:45pm, from Bob McKenzie of TSN,

NHLPA executive director Paul Kelly surprised some earlier this season when he suggested the players would be in favor of adding a couple of games to the NHL regular season, to make it 84 instead of 82.

Sources say the NHL board of governors will get its chance to vote on that concept this weekend in Atlanta at the NHL All-Star Game.

The governors have previously been lukewarm or even opposed to bumping up the schedule to 84 games, but that proposal was often in the context of going to the Detroit Red Wing-sponsored schedule matrix, where there would be a home-and-home (30 games) series with all teams in the opposite conference.

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Paul Kelly on the NHL Hour

by Alanah on 01/24/08 at 02:12 PM
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The NHLPA’s Paul Kelly will be Gary Bettman’s guest on the NHL Hour today.

The NHL Hour broadcasts live Thursdays from 4-5 pm ET on NHL Home Ice, (XM channel 204) and NHL.com. The show will re-run on XM Satellite Radio and NHL.com, with archived shows available for download via a podcast on NHL.com.

*At showtime, listen live at this link.  While on the air, listeners can call into the show at 1-877-645-6696, or send questions/comments via this email address: .

Paul Kelly is an Optimist

by Alanah on 01/11/08 at 09:11 PM
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From Mark Spector at the National Post,

“I think someone can effectively represent the players of the NHL, and at the same time do it in a manner that is constructive, co-operative with the NHL, with the owners, and good for the game as a whole,” Kelly said in a one-on-one interview this week. “We should be able to solve complex problems without firing at each other; without not being able to be in the same room with each other; without the bitterness and emotion that existed the last time.

“Maybe I’m being naive,” he added. “But I will tell you, having spent a lot of years dealing with difficult legal issues - civil and criminal - and negotiating difficult legal problems with some of the finest lawyers in the world, I know it is possible to do this.”

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Adam Proteau Talks With Paul Kelly

by Paul on 01/03/08 at 02:10 PM
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Adam Proteau of the Hockey News concludes his interview with Paul Kelly.  In case you missed the firat part, a link is available on the page.... 

THN: Improving the marketing of the game has been a common goal of the NHL for decades, yet little progress has been made. What are some of your opinions on ways to finally make some headway in this area?

PK: I’ll make three or four quick points:

One is U.S. television. I commend Versus for their broadcasts, but we need broader reach, broader coverage, reaching a greater number of homes, on more nights, with more highlights. We need something that’s even half of what you have here in Canada, and we don’t have it in the United States.

If I’m in a certain city and I want to watch a hockey game, I go hunting around the TV dial, I go past ESPN – which has a poker game on – and I can’t find a hockey game because many of the places I go to don’t have Versus on the dial. It’s unacceptable.

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NHLPA Changing its Tune

by Alanah on 12/06/07 at 02:17 PM
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From Jim Kelley at Sports Illustrated,

What comes as a shock to long-time observers, however, is that now the NHL Players’ Association wants to get involved, and not necessarily to fight off the suspensions that were handed down by Colin Campbell, the NHL’s Director of Hockey Operations, as well as the perceived threat of additional suspensions that were hinted at by Commissioner Gary Bettman and his deputy, Bill Daly.

Paul Kelly, who barely has found a chair that fits him as the NHLPA’s new executive director said recently that he’s “concerned” about the number of suspensions the Flyers have been given since the start of the season and that not only should the league take a tougher stance, but that his organization should “have a voice in the process.”

Given that he’s not dead, it would be wrong to say that former NHLPA boss Bob Goodenow is spinning in his grave over that one, but it’s not outside the realm of possibility that Kelly’s statement made his head turn. Criticism of Goodenow within and outside the PA often centered on how he handled on-ice or player-on-player violence. The perception (Goodenow argued it was unfair) was that the PA was quick to come to the defense of any perpetrator, but did next to nothing to protect the health, safety and long-term welfare of the player who was unduly or unfairly assaulted.

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All Paul Kelly & Eric Lindros

by Paul on 12/03/07 at 08:16 PM
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from In the Room at the Washington Times,

Kelly and Lindros talked about all sorts of issues with the game, and since the story was more of a feature on the two of them trying to help the NHLPA regroup, there was not room for their views on a lot of important topics. So here is some what we talked about. It is a lot to digest, but there is some pretty good stuff in here.

ON THE CURRENT STATE OF THE GAME

KELLY: We like the game played at a high rate of speed. We like to see good, close games whether they are 2-1, 3-2 or 8-7. I don’t know that the volume of goals is really the issue. We want to see good, clean, competitive, fast play.

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Early Line Of The Day

by Paul on 11/30/07 at 07:25 AM
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“I told them expressly, it is my view that any labour interruption in this sport would be devastating,” Kelly said, “and that the public, particularly in the United States, would turn away in disgust. And that we owe it to the game and to the fans to work through issues and to avoid any discussions of lockouts and strikes. I sensed a positive agreement from the owners to that comment.”

No kidding!!!

read more from Eric Duhatschek of the Globe and Mail, including the league may look at an 84 game season. The players will approve it as long as the exhibition season is shortened.

added 7:50am, from Terry Frei at All Things Avs,

...but when word arrived tonight of the NHL Board of Governors’ decision on a scheduling format for next season, I thought it was a joke. The much-reviled format is only being tweaked in what is essentially a return to the pre-lockout format, not overhauled. What the league needed to do first and foremost — send every team to every arena every season — is not part of the plan. The league is telling the fans they are No. 1 — but with the wrong finger.

Everything else being equal, this is going to cost the Avalanche and other Western Conference franchises even more season ticket accounts.

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Paul Kelly Faces Challenges

by Paul on 11/30/07 at 06:57 AM
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from Kevin Allen of USA TODAY,

Now a month on the job, the former Boston trial lawyer and assistant U.S. attorney has formed a general impression on how his command will work.

“There are business issues, maybe on television, marketing or promotional issues where I might lay alternatives and make recommendations, and hope they have significant faith and trust in my judgment to support me,” Kelly said. “But on game issues, players are in a far better position than I am. It’s incumbent upon me to get a sense of the majority.”

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Instigator- Yay Or Nay

by Paul on 11/23/07 at 07:41 AM
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from Darren Dreger of TSN,

NHL Players Association Executive Director Paul Kelly and his entourage have visited with seven of the league’s 30 teams on their fall tour.

Issues discussed include bigger nets, smaller goalie equipment and mandatory visors, to name a few. But the one topic that interests players most right now is removal of the instigator penalty.

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Paul Kelly Would Like “Widespread” TV Coverage Of The NHL

by Paul on 11/05/07 at 04:59 PM
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from Stan Fischler at MSG Network, (Paul) Kelly wants to canvass his constituency to get an overall feel for the membership’s thinking. One thing he emphasized to us is his desire to see more widespread TV coverage in the U.S.

He didn’t mention ESPN by name, but rather by implication that a renewed marriage between the biggest sports network and Bettman, Inc. would be highly desirable. It’s tough to argue that point!

more from The Maven…

Paul Kelly Not “Progressive”

by Alanah on 10/29/07 at 11:54 AM
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From Damien Cox’s The Spin,

The early guess is that Paul Kelly is about honesty, not about change. Indeed, the new NHL Players Association boss probably just needs not to open other people’s emails and he’ll do fine.

A progressive thinker, however, he apparently is not.

In fact, with respect to the game itself, it turns out Kelly is a bit of closet Neanderthal, something he revealed Saturday night in an intriguing interview with Ron MacLean on Hockey Night in Canada.

Kelly said that not only does he believe fighting is part of hockey, he strongly believes in the necessity of enforcers to “self-police” the game.

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Paul Kelly Officially Named NHLPA Executive Director

by Alanah on 10/24/07 at 12:27 PM
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From the NHLPA,

The search process, conducted by a five-member committee of NHLPA members and the executive search firm Reilly Partners of Chicago, culminated with the introduction of Kelly at today’s media conference in Toronto.

“It is a distinct honour and privilege to be chosen by the players to serve as the Executive Director of their union,” said Kelly “I look forward to advocating tirelessly for the membership as we prepare to enter what I believe will be an exciting and prosperous new chapter for the NHLPA.

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added 1:01pm, from Allan Maki of the Globe and Mail,

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What Paul Kelly Must Do

by Paul on 10/24/07 at 09:26 AM
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from Jim Kelley at Sportsnet,

Kelly’s to-do list must begin with making certain the players get what they are entitled to under the current CBA. He also needs to restructure the business end of NHLPA and its licensing arm (something that has fallen into the leadership abyss) and he needs to tell Commissioner Gary Bettman and Deputy Commissioner Bil Daly where to stuff it when they try something wrong-headed, non-sensical or illegal.

On top, he needs to find a way to keep some 700 members interested enough in the process so that the league no longer views then as little more than mobile skate racks (mostly of the unheated variety). Do that and the union will be on track to handle the next negotiation with the kind of unity the management might respect.

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NHLPA To Become Strong Again

by Paul on 10/14/07 at 07:44 AM
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from Larry Brooks of the NY Post,

Gary Bettman, who spent the lockout trying to break the NHLPA (and would have succeeded if not for the efforts of people such as Chris Chelios, Trent Klatt, Steve Larmer and Eric Lindros), recently went on the record insisting he believes in and welcomes a strong union across from him at the table.

Well, the commissioner is going to get what he wished for, because once Paul Kelly, the former assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts, becomes NHLPA executive director, that’s exactly what the union will again become.

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