long ago, I wrote a book called "Strange But True Hockey Stories."



Based on what's happening these days with the NHL Players' Association, I would add another chapter to the book.



It would be titled, "Union � Or Disunion?"



The chapter would be based on the NHLPA decisions since the new Collective Bargaining Agreement was approved in July.



As everyone knows, it was not merely approved, it was OVERWHELMINGLY approved.



Not even close.



The players voted for the CBA after they were all briefed on its contents.



Game over; or at least it should have been.



The vote was fair and square. It was approved by the players
Executive Committee � selected by the rank-and-file � and that should
have been the end of it.



No player in his right mind should have expected anything remotely
close to the previous CBA. That was evident for the past two
years.



So what do we have now?



Not an NHL-NHLPA war, but rather a civil war within the Union itself.



Players such as Bryan McCabe, Ed Belfour, Eric Lindros, Dominik Hasek,
and Sean McEachern have filed a complaint with the U.S. National Labor
Relations Board over the Union's hiring of Ted Saskin as executive
director, according to Rick Westhead of the Toronto Star.



Meanwhile, other columnists are suggesting all sorts of nutsy things based on the intra-NHLPA battle.



One Vancouver writer even suggested that the Denis Gauthier hit on
Jeremy Roenick could have been a product of retribution. Roenick
had the guts to challenge the Union when Bob Goodenow was leading it
over the cliff.



My personal battle with Ted Saskin is well-known to many heard us
collide verbally on Norm Rumack's Toronto Fan Radio Show last winter.



I like Ted in a lot of ways and I believe he would be the best possible
choice � give or take the PHPA's Larry Landon � as NHLPA head.



Sure, Saskin was part of the CBA negotiating process and as important
Trevor Linden. In conjunction with the Executive Committee, they
produced the document that will ensure the league's health as well as
one which will be to the players' advantage as well.



They're working and they're being paid well; make no mistake about that.



By pursuing a war against Saskin, the players could do what some �
wrongly, I might add � accused the owners of wanting to do; destroy the
NHLPA.



This is a strange but true state of affairs and if the small-bloc of
players succeeds in their feud, NHLPA may come to mean National Hockey
League Players Assassination!

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