League Notes

The HOCKEY NEWS’ Ken Campbell cited sources saying that MLBPA General Counsel Michael Weiner “would have been a slam-dunk” to get the NHLPA Exec Dir position, but he “doesn’t want it.”  Weiner is the “heir apparent to [MLBPA Exec Dir] Donald Fehr ... and he’s holding out for that job when Fehr retires. Campbell: "Why would he want to work for an association where most of the power lies in 30 player representatives?” (THEHOCKEYNEWS.com, 9/26).

NHL Suspends Downie For Illegal Hit In Preseason Game

NHL: The NHL suspended Flyers RW Steve Downie 20 games for an illegal hit on Senators LW Dean McAmmond, who subsequently is out indefinitely with a concussion. NHL Exec VP & Dir of Hockey Operations Colin Campbell said that the league sent every team a DVD with unacceptable hits. Campbell: “This (suspension) isn’t the message. That (DVD) was the message.” Downey will lose over $60,000 in salary from the suspension, but it “only takes effect if he’s in the NHL;” the Flyers sent him to the minors last week (USA TODAY, 10/1).

NASCAR: With more NASCAR teams merging and single-car ownership declining, ESPN’s Dave Burns reported some NASCAR sources “have speculated what a franchise model could look like – possibly 10 multi-car franchises at a starting cost of $100(M) apiece.” Former HOF Racing co-Owner Roger Staubach, who, along with Troy Aikman, sold their interest in the team to Jeff Moorad, said, “It’s not a level playing field. These multiple-car garages, they share information. It’s like the Eagles, the Redskins and the Cowboys working together within a locker room -- which is impossible, but in NASCAR it works.” Aikman: “If we were going to give ourselves a chance to be successful and to run up front, then we needed to invest a lot more capital interest. …  Roger (Staubach) and I just weren’t willing to do that.”(“NASCAR Countdown,” ABC, 9/30).