On Friday I was driving around on my lunch break, listening to Oilers Now with Bob Stauffer. One interesting thing he mentioned on the show was that he's heard a rumor about Jarome Iginla in relation to the NHLPA. More specifically, the rumor suggests Iginla is being kept from attending NHLPA meetings because he's a moderate, and he wants to negotiate an agreement with the league.
After hearing this, I made some calls and asked around. You know how sometimes when you ask a question, you don't actually want to know the answer? Yep. This is one of those times.
While reading all of this, keep in mind that I'm a rumor guy...This is me regurgitating stuff I've heard over the last 24 from "sources"...People I won't specifically identify because I'd like it if they continue to share information with me in the future. The first clue that I'm not just making stuff up? Please notice how specific some of the following information is. Either the people I'm speaking to get their jollies from lying to me in a very specific way, or there is actually something to this.
Let's start with Iggy and Chris Campoli. From my understanding, Iginla was one of the players instrumental in bringing an end to the lockout in 2005. There were at that time a group of "moderate players"...I've heard Martin St. Louis's name mentioned as another moderate who'd rather be skating than protesting. From what I've heard, moderates are being kept away from the NHLPA's leadership group this time around, because the PA's inner circle has no intention of settling with the league.
At the helm of the NHLPA is Donald Fehr, and I don't need to explain to you folks what he's known for. All I need to say is "Major League Baseball" and you know the rest of the story. If you're Canadian and you don't follow baseball, Fehr's leadership of the MLBPA is the main reason there's no longer a team in Montreal. Some people consider Fehr the person who wrecked baseball...I'm not sure if that's entirely accurate. It seems to me the league is still around and makes plenty of money.
The key players in the NHLPA include guys like Chris Campoli and Ron Hainsey. Campoli is without a NHL contract right now, and he isn't a very good player. Hainsey is near the end of his contract, and retirement awaits. Sounds like strange choices to head your PA, yes no? Unless, of course, there's something in it for them...Jobs with the PA when this is all over, perhaps? It wouldn't be the first time someone threw his co-workers under the bus in an effort to advance their own career.
I'm hearing some pretty interesting stuff. Let's revisit 2009...Paul Kelly was the head of the NHLPA then. A respected Boston-area lawyer, Kelly played a key role in bringing down long-time NHLPA boss Alan Eagleson. While being tried on corruption and embezzlement charges, Eagleson plead guilty to fraud charges and was sent to the clink over it. Kelly, who played a big part in bringing Eagleson down, became Executive Director of the NHLPA in October 2007. Former Boston-area writer Russ Conway, who helped to expose what Eagleson's was doing, described Kelly as the first "true, clean leader the NHLPA ever had."
Two short years later, Kelly was removed in what could be described as a coup d'état. Why was he removed? It was felt Kelly worked too closely with the league. The people involved in removing him? Former players, a few agents, and an icon in the world of labour unions: Ian Penny, Ian Pulver, Eric Lindros, Ron Pink and Buzz Hargrove. Pink is an interesting inclusion in this group, considering he applied for the Executive Director job at the same time as Kelly in 2007. I've also heard, but have no proof of it, that Edmonton-based player agent Ritch Winter was also involved in the removal of Kelly.
Fast-forward to now. From my understanding, part of Fehr's current inner circle includes Pulver and Winter. Both are agents who are past their best-before date...Agents teams don't like dealing with, and most players steer clear of both. One of Winter's remaining clients? Scott Upshall. What was Upshall saying the other day about the NHL?
Scottie Upshall@ScottieUpshall
"Plain and simple these owners think they can break us apart. GOOD LUCK! We r stronger than we've ever been and r behind Fehr 100%...There's no pressure yet on the owners to lose this year, that's why they still treat us like Cattle. They'll need a partner come January"
Update: I had it pointed out to me that Ritch Winter is not Upshall's agent; Gerry Johannson is. True. Winter is the founder and CEO of The Sports Corporation (TSC), and the TSC website lists Upshall as a client. Johannson shares office space with Winters and is listed on the TSC website as being staff...this is more of a clarification than a correction or retraction, but I thought I should comment as people are bringing it up.
If you don't like my Winter/Upshall connection, look up who represents Brandon Prust...another guy well inside the Fehr camp and who likes to speak out against the league and owners.
Fairly well known Upshall is an outspoken supporter of the NHLPA. How much of his opinion is a product of who his agent is? We're not sure. And keep in mind a blog I posted a number of weeks ago about Winter's involvement in the Downtown Arena fiasco in Edmonton. Winter is son-in-law to former Edmonton Mayor Cec Purves; a person who is outspoken against the new arena and who firmly supports Edmonton Northlands. Winter applied for the President position with the Oilers when Daryl Katz bought the team, and was declined the position because...there's no nice way to say this...No one likes him. Let's just say Winter has an axe to grind with Katz and Kevin Lowe.
I keep hearing some really ugly stuff regarding the behaviour of the NHLPA. For example: That they forced the lockout. That it was premeditated by Fehr and his inner circle, and that they had no intention of negotiating with the league, giving them no other choice. Evidence suggests the NHLPA's leader is not working in good faith (the NHL, during owner and player only negotiations, believed they had a deal with the NHLPA two weeks ago until Fehr became involved and derailed the process). On the other hand, I'm not sure what Fehr's motivation would be to cost his members millions and millions of dollars. Surely this situation isn't all about furthering the Legend that is Donald Fehr, is it? I mean, who would want to go down in history as the guy who nearly destroyed two professional sports leagues?
Another disgusting thing occurring is how current players are trying to discredit former players for speaking out against the NHLPA's stance. Jeremy Roenick, Craig Simpson, Mike Modano, and Mark Recchi have all made comments suggesting the PA is not working in the players' best interests.
Example:
Ryan Clowe to Craig Simpson on Twitter, Dec. 7: "It's amazing reading your tweets to think your actually a former player." If you follow Clowe on Twitter you know he's been brawling with people like Darren Dreger too for his stance on the lockout.
Are former players like Roenick, Simpson, Modano and Recchi being disrespectful of the NHLPA by offering their opinions? I don't think so. I seem to remember a time about 20 years ago when people like Gretzky and Lemieux were players and labor unrest occurred...and how much their comments and opinions changed 10 years later when both were playing more of a managerial role in the NHL. People like JR and Simmer see things much the way I do, I think. It's not that the league and owners are right; it's just that they'll win eventually. The NHLPA put up a good fight and had a good protest. But at this point, they hurt their membership more than helping it by allowing the lockout to continue. They have no choice but to work inside of the NHL's framework to negotiate a settlement. Who said life is fair? It's not as if the owners are asking players to live in a cardboard box or anything. It's not like back in Gretzky's day, when he was the best player in the history of the game and his base salary was $300,000 per season. Does anyone actually believe the players deserve more than half of the money the league makes? Because that other half...you need to pay the coaches, staff, rink costs, expenses...The players might have the talent, but ownership assumes all the financial risk. All the players need to do is play hard and work hard. They're job isn't easy, but it isn't complex either. They get well paid for what they do.
NHL players have two very big problems on their hands when it comes to this entire situation: First is, they're fighting a losing cause. How do you think the court challenges and Disclaimer of Interest are going to go considering over 200 NHL players are in Europe right now playing for other pro hockey leagues? This isn't the world of the NBA or NFL. The NHL does not have a monopoly, nor does it make comparable money to those two leagues. Adding lawsuits and such could add months, if not years, to this CBA mess, and in the end the players won't get a deal that looks much different than what ownership has already offered them. Keep in mind the players have already lost over $700mil in income this season from the lockout. If they lose the entire season, they'll lose around $1.8billion. That's a lot of zeros.
The other problem is how mislead most players are with regards to their own PA. Do they realize people like Campoli and Hainsey may be working towards furthering their own agendas instead of working in the union's best interests? Do players realize people like Iginla and St. Louis are being intentionally shut out of the process because they actually want a deal? Blind support is a dangerous thing in all areas of life. The players are putting their careers in the hands of mad men who don't give a crap about the NHL. Would you do that willingly? I wouldn't.
All of this could just be some demented Buzz Hargrove fantasy, that's the saddest part. Hargrove is not right between the ears. Blowing companies up just because it's fun to stick it to Corporate America? Where do people come up with this stuff? And why would anyone who makes so much money from the situation support it?
Edmonton Oilers Blogger • 
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