Sidney Crosby Speaks Up During Important NHLPA Conference Call

Crosby, NHL Players Appear Intent On Regaining Control Of Union

Penguins C Sidney Crosby "raised his voice last Sunday on a union conference call and firmly told" NHLPA interim Exec Dir Ian Penny to "hang up the phone because union members wanted to have a players-only discussion," according to Damien Cox of the TORONTO STAR. When Crosby, "arguably the highest-profile player in the sport" of hockey today, "spoke up, the world changed for the embattled" NHLPA. It was one of "several signals that the players appear intent on regaining control of their own union nearly two months" after former NHLPA Exec Dir Paul Kelly's dismissal "plunged the organization into disarray." Oilers C and player rep Shawn Horcoff on the call argued Penny's contract "violated" the union's constitution because it was done "without being advised of Kelly's objections and concerns and without Kelly even in the room, which is in violation of our constitution." Horcoff also said NHLPA Ombudsman Buzz Hargrove had "overstepped his role" (TORONTO STAR, 10/23).

GOOD START, BUT IS IT ENOUGH? SI.com's Jim Kelley wrote the approval of a veterans player committee to investigate the NHLPA is a "huge step forward in the ongoing debacle that is the PA's administration these days, but the question" is whether four players on the committee "is enough." A minority of players "already wield a lot of clout in a PA that seems to want to do the right thing but doesn't quite know how." AHL Chicago Wolves D Chris Chelios, a committee member, "cares and he's good at pushing for progress, but with the season underway and him not having a role with an NHL team, it could be a problem for the committee to get enough players to listen to the problems at hand and act accordingly." Some union members are "complaining that they can't get a quorum in their conference calls, not because of indifference but tactics." They argue that "those who are fighting Chelios' plans have used non-participation in the calls to block his progress" (SI.com, 10/22).