Ok, I am going to take my fellow blogger Kevin Gibson to task today.
First let me say that Kevin is one of the brightest young hockey
writers in Canada, and I am thrilled to have him on board. His
role will only increase here at hockeybuzz with any luck at all...He
has also become a good friend this past year.
BUT!
Saying that Ted Saskin should quit I completely disagree with.
This is an internal process and I know way too much about the inner
workings of this. The fact that it has been a public process is a
bigger disgrace than what Ted did wrong here.
First off, a story on today's Globe and Mail by Tim Wharnsby...
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20051122/NHLPA22/TPSports/Hockey
This clearly shows that Ted has the majority of the player's support.
I ask you all reading this...players, fans, and the like....Do you want another season lost?
There are players and agents who believe that Ted and Trevor Linden
made some huge mistakes in the handling of the transition from Bob to
Ted. I agree with a few of those claims. It could have been
handled better. I haven't found many who would dispute
that. But you need to put it in context. The NHLPA was in a
state of disarray...Once these concerns were voiced Ted went so far to
to try and correct those concerns by having a secret ballot. Some
teams were told by some agents not to vote. Now lawyers are
involved and lawyers will find things.
There is a group that will continue to fight Ted apparently until they
get the person they want in power. Some of them, like Trent Klatt
and Eric Lindros, do believe they are fighting the good fight
here. Their motivation is democracy needing to be served.
Others have called me and talked to me at length about the fact they
disagree with what happened but realize that Ted is the guy and are
looking for ways to work with him even if they don't get along with him
personally at all. One particular controversial figure has called
me many times with brilliant ideas on how to do that..Others still are
using those good intentions of Klatt for their own personal gains and
basically circling like vultures. Every hockey writer, GM, or
owner who is reading this know who those people are by now. I am
not here to prove anything, so I will keep the names away for now. My
journalist friends may find that it makes me less a journalist. I
am not a journalist by most definitions anyway....who knows what
I am?
I have continually been asked to write about this. I hate getting
involved with this. It goes against my mission statement. I
write about what can help this sport. I write about how great the
sport is. Dragging the sport through the mud like this is not my
deal. You can call me a wimp, but you know what? It is my
blog. I write now because I am afraid and extremely angry that
people in this sport would put themselves above the sport that brought
them to the dance.
I wrote very harshly about Mr. Goodenow, and at times Mr. Bettman.
Whenever I feel someone is doing something that damaged the sport and
therefore hurt the grease that makes the sport go you will get me
writing. I don't write gossip, and I don't even write about
rumors of guys getting fired. That is my choice. Again,
there are plenty of places on the internet for that.
What Ted has done has not hurt the sport. Ted's efforts to
getting this sport back on the ice were absolutely tireless and his
effort was unreal. How short are the memories here? The
hours he pulled and the diplomacy he engaged in to make this deal is
more than enough for me to be OK with the later procedural misdoings
taht are the focus right now. That is what infuriates me.
The league we have right now, we have have because of two people.
Ted Saskin and Bill Daly. They were the ones who got it
done. Don't kid yourself. Without either of them we wouldn't be
playing now. I was lucky enough to get a ton of information from
people close enough to those negotiations to know the absolute truth in
that statement. I know things they did that would blow your mind
to get this done....after that credit also goes to Linden and Shanahan
for uniting the players.
I fear that Saskin will be ousted if enough lawyers do enough business
here. Ted took over an organization in chaos that needed help
fast and in his quick actions he did things that weren't the way they
are supposed to be done according to some folks interpretation of the
NHLPA constitution. A constitution that has never been followed
to the "T." But if you talk to 90% of the players they are just
thankful for what he did right before that...he got the deal done.
There is a way to fix this once and for all, and I ask all sides to
consider this for the good of the sport and the good of the fans. Hold
a NHLPA Constitutional Convention. Given all the new aspects of
the sport's business in the last 15 years, the NHLPA constitution is
antiquated on several fronts. Bring together all parties to draw
up a document that will insure that what happened in the Eagleson and
Goodenow years can not happen moving forward. Get hockey's elders
and young thinkers together on this. Really spend some time
making a document that protects all the players, and ensures the
likelihood that one person can force the cancellation of the season can
never occur again. (A good example of what was wrong with the old
constitution was that I talked to agents during the lockout who asked
ME, EKLUND, the procedure to remove Goodenow, and we determined
there wasn't really one in place)
After the new constitution has been drawn up, hold a new vote to elect
player reps. The current way ninety percent of the player reps
are in power is basically, "Who wants to be a player rep?'" followed
by, "whatever, i'll do it."
Take that player rep vote seriously. Millions of dollars are at stake here. Learn from last year.
Then, however the new constitution dictates, take a vote on Ted.
All sides need to admit that this re-vamping needs to occur and be very pro-active.
******
So i throw this out there to those who oppose Saskin for whatever
reason. You may what you see as have justifiable gripes.
But before you throw the baby out with the bath water ask yourself
this: "If we bring in a new person who has taken over in this
kind of bloody coup, what motivation will that person have to make this
CBA work?"
The least you have to admit about Ted is that this CBA is his baby, and
if he is to keep his job in 4 years he needs to make it work. I
would much rather have that kind of person working for me. Also
don't discount the fact that Ted has a marketing background and a
relationship with the NHL that isn't dysfunctional. That is
rather novel.
A new person could easily make this CBA a "lame duck CBA" and would
want to re-shape it and open it up in four years. After what we
went through last year, that sounds like more games lost to me.
Been there. Done that.
I appreciate you listening to my rant and please understand I am just
putting my love of the game first here. My sport is just getting
back on its feet. Don't kick it back down. Find way to fix
yourselves internally. You owe that to the fans of the sport who
basically gave you a mulligan last year. Hold the Constitutional
Convention and stop this lunacy!
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