Fehr Appointed Executive Director of NHLPA

Don Fehr has become the National Hockey League Player’s Association’s (NHLPA) new executive director after players voted “overwhelmingly” in his favour over the weekend. A search committee had recommended Fehr for the post to the executive board in September.

Fehr, 62, was the long-standing executive director of the Major League Baseball Player’s Association (MLBPA) for 26 years between 1983 and 2009 and switched sports to work as an advisor to the NHLPA in recent months.

“This process took a while and it took a while because from the players’ standpoint they wanted to be sure,” said Fehr.

“From my standpoint I wanted them to be sure they had made a decision they were comfortable with, that all the players had an opportunity to have their say and that this judgement represented a consensus view of the entire membership. It has and that’s both quite an honour to me and is also quite humbling.”

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said in a statement: “We are pleased that the leadership position at the Players’ Association has been filled, and we look forward to working with Don in his new role.”

The NHLPA has had four different leaders since the end of the 2004-05 NHL lockout, and the League’s current collective bargaining agreement with the union is scheduled to expire in September 2012.