NHLPA Exec Dir Donald Fehr Tops Globe & Mail's Power 50 List

NHLPA Exec Dir DONALD FEHR tops the Globe and Mail’s Power 50 for '12 list "because of the significance accorded negotiations on a new" CBA with the NHL and because his reputation suggests NHL Commissioner GARY BETTMAN “might not want to assume any more that he is the brightest guy in the room,” according to Jeff Blair of the GLOBE & MAIL. Fehr, who led the MLBPA for 23 years, has “made the link between baseball’s labour peace and the absence of a salary cap, suggesting to many that he will push for an overhauled system of revenue sharing and a luxury tax in the NHL.” Blair noted that “will be a tough sell to owners.” But what “might be an easier sell … is the notion of a World Cup of hockey, modelled on the joint partnership that resulted in the World Baseball Classic.” Below is Globe & Mail’s Power 50 List, which “ranks players with the influence, and the desire, to affect sport in Canada" during '12 (GLOBE & MAIL, 2/7).

RANK	EXEC
1	NHLPA Exec Dir Don Fehr
2	NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman
3	Concussion Experts
4	Hockey HOFer Ken Dryden
5	COC President Marcel Aubut
6	WTA Chair & CEO Stacey Allaster
7	NHL VP/Player Safety & Hockey Operations Brendan Shanahan
8	CTV President of Sports & Exec VP/Programming Phil King/ Bell Canada President & CEO George Cope
9	Rogers Media President Keith Pelley/ Rogers Communications President & CEO Nadir Mohamed
10	Quebecor Media President & CEO Pierre-Karl Péladeau
11	Flames co-Owner Murray Edwards
12	Penguins C Sidney Crosby
13	Dir of Doping Control Laboratory Christiane Ayotte
14	Canadiens Owner Geoff Molson
15	Canucks Owner Francesco Aquilini
16	CFL B.C. Lions and Toronto Argonauts Owner David Braley
17	CFL Commissioner Mark Cohon
18	Canadian athletic nonprofit organization B2ten
19	Canadian Olympic Gold Medal-winning Speedskater Clara Hughes
20	Golf Canada Exec Dir & CEO Scott Simmons
21	Bruins Owner Jeremy Jacobs/NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly
22	Tennis Canada CEO Michael Downey
23	Blue Jays President & CEO Paul Beeston/Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos
24	IIHF Ambassador and Mentor Program Coordinator Hayley Wickenheiser
25	Oilers Owner Daryl Katz
26	Own the Podium CEO Anne Merklinger
27	'12 Canadian Olympic Team Chef de Mission Mark Tewksbury
28	CBC Exec Dir of Sports Properties Jeff Orridge
29	CBC hockey analyst Don Cherry
30	RBC Chief Brand & Communications Officer Jim Little
31	Flames RW Jarome Iginla
32	Maple Leafs President & GM Brian Burke
33	F1 Canadian Grand Prix Promoter and Octane Motorsports Events President & CEO Francois Dumontier
34	MLS Impact President Joey Saputo/MLS Whitecap's co-Owner Jeff Mallett
35	NHL Jets co-Owner Mark Chipman
36	Univ. of Ottawa Vice Dean & Professor Blaine Hoshizaki
37	Woodbine Entertainment Group CEO Nick Eaves
38	Orthopaedic Surgeon Dr. Brian Day/'10 Vancouver Olympic Games Chief Medical Officer Dr. Jack Taunton/Raptors Dir of Sports Science Alex McKechnie
39	CFL Montreal Alouettes QB Anthony Cavillo
40	Hockey Canada President & CEO Bob Nicholson
41	Ontario Hockey League Commissioner & Canada Hockey League President David Branch
42	Raptors President & GM Bryan Colangelo
43	UFC fighter Georges St-Pierre
44	Border Ladner Gervais attorney and former CFL Commissioner Doug Mitchell
45	Canadian Olympic boxer Mary Spencer
46	Canadian Senator (B.C.) and former Gold Medal-winning skier Nancy Greene-Raine
47	Former Canadian men's national basketball team coach Ken Shields
48	Suns G and MLS Whitecaps investor Steve Nash
49	MLSE Chair Larry Tanenbaum
50	Former NHLer Theo Fleury