The NHLPA's search to replace Exec Dir Don Fehr "has included outreach to a wide spectrum of agents to elicit feedback regarding both the current state of the union and its future direction," which is "noteworthy given the arm’s-length treatment representatives have been accorded under Fehr’s administration," according to Larry Brooks of the N.Y. POST. Sources said that "multiple agents contacted by representatives from the executive search firm Russell Reynolds Associates and by players on the search committee have indicated their belief that the PA has become too passive and conciliatory in its dealings with the NHL and must take a more assertive approach in advance of the next round of collective bargaining, four years hence, and in generating revenue-producing initiatives." There remains no "particular timetable" to name a successor. There appear to be a "number of familiar candidates." There also is a "sense from multiple sources that a new set of eyes is needed to lead the PA and prepare the athletes for the fight ahead." Brooks: "Unless, of course, players don’t want a fight. Unless they collectively think this is good enough. But if that were true, they could have stuck with Fehr" (N.Y. POST, 10/8).
