What's The NHLPA Worth...? A Penny, For Now...

((HT: TSN))

Ian Penny ((pictured, thanks Bruce Bennett/Getty)) has been unanimously named as Interim Executive Director of the National Hockey League Players' Association.

He had previously held the role of General Counsel for the union.

Sources tell TSN Penny is not interested in the position on a fulltime basis and only took the title in order to give the NHLPA a point person during the coming days.

The move came after the 30 player representatives voted to fire Paul Kelly early on Monday morning at their meetings in Chicago.

NHLPA Ombudsman Buzz Hargrove told the TEAM 1040 radio station in Vancouver that the union didn't have faith that Kelly was the right man to lead them in their next contract negotiations with the NHL in 2011.

"They didn't want to wait until it was too late," Hargrove said. "If we waited until next year, you're almost on the doorstep of the opening of negotiations and they didn't want then to be caught with someone they didn't really think was able to unify and pull the group together and get them all working together. 'Trust and confidence' were the words they used and I think that's used appropriately."

Penny has worked as staff counsel with the NHLPA since 2000, and was promoted to his present position in 2007. The report states that Kelly had been at odds with Penny as well as with other key members of the NHLPA.

When asked if the NHLPA had any leads with regards to filling the Executive Director job, Hargrove said that there were no candidates.

"There's no names in the hopper at this point," Hargrove told the TEAM. "I talked to almost all the players before they left at noon today and no one had a suggestion. They really are saying that we need to do a search and we have to reach out outside of the organization, unless somebody surfaces that we haven't yet identified."

Kelly Out As NHLPA Head

((HT: GlobeSports/Wharnsby))

Paul Kelly ((pictured, thanks Adrian Wyld/CP)) has been fired as the NHLPA's executive director following more than 10 hours of meetings in Chicago that began Sunday and carried into the early hours of Monday. The decision to relieve Kelly of his duties less than two years into his leadership of the association was made by the 30 NHL team representatives who make up the NHLPA's executive board.

“Following the Executive Board’s review of the overall operation of the NHLPA, it was decided that Paul Kelly should no longer continue to serve as Executive Director'', said a news release put out the association Monday morning. "We appreciate Mr. Kelly’s service to our Association."

NHLPA staff members Glenn Healy, the director of player affairs, Pat Flatley, the assistant director of player affairs and general counsel Ian Penny attended the proceedings. A source stated that both Healy and Flatley were pro-Kelly, while Penny wanted to see a change at the top.

Not long after Kelly was informed of his dismissal, Flatley resigned from the NHLPA.
According to one report Monday, interim ombudsman Buzz Hargrove said he has no interest in replacing Kelly as the association's executive director.

There also have been charges made from the pro-Kelly camp that former ombudsman Eric Lindros continued to play a behind-the-scenes role in the attempted coup.

TSN's Darren Dreger has more from Chicago

Kelly Out As NHLPA Head...???

((HT: TSN/Dreger))

NHLPA executive director Paul Kelly, who has been on the job less than two years, is facing intense scrutiny according to union sources and his status may be challenged when the Players' Association's 30-member executive committee convenes Sunday and Monday in Chicago at a regularly scheduled meeting.

Sources tell TSN that NHLPA interim ombudsman, Buzz Hargrove is expected to make a presentation to the committee identifying concerns within the association about Kelly's leadership. No details have emerged about the nature of the concerns.

Sources say it's possible the executive committee could vote to have Kelly removed and, in accordance with the NHLPA constitution, could do so without consent from the full membership of NHL players.

Sources say a divide in leadership intensified in June at the summer meetings in Las Vegas when Hargrove, advisory board head Ron Pink and the advisory board addressed the membership privately and emerged with the executive committee's consent on a 5 year contract extension for the general counsel of the NHLPA, Ian Penny, without Kelly's consultation. A union source said that exclusion violated the PA's constitution.

According to article 6, section 2, subsection 3 of the players associations constitution, Kelly was required to be consulted by the 30 member executive board when Penny's contract was extended.

The article reads:
"The executive director shall consult with the executive board regarding the appointment and terms and conditions of employment of the general counsel of the association."

Another source says Kelly was consulted in the Penny negotiation.

It's believed Pink, a Halifax labour lawyer applied for the executive director job before Kelly was hired and sources say he would have strong interest in the job if Kelly is ousted.

While this weekend could erupt into a showdown between Kelly's supporters and those challenging his leadership, there is also a chance Hargrove and those who support him will be shot down by the committee and Paul Kelly and those close to him will get through the weekend unscathed.

Requests to interview Hargrove and Kelly were declined by the NHLPA.

Kelly succeeded Ted Saskin as executive director in October, 2007 after Saskin was let go amid allegations he had been monitoring players confidential emails.

Kelly: "Pull The Plug" On Coyotes

((HT: Arizona Republic))

Paul Kelly, the executive director of the National Hockey League Players' Association ((pictured, thanks Bruce Bennett/Getty)), has told The Hamilton Spectator that "it's time to pull the plug" on the NHL in Phoenix.

Kelly also tells The Spectator that NHL owners should not only be doubting that the Coyotes should remain in Phoenix, but that those doubts should have arisen long before now.

Speaking on a Toronto radio station Wednesday, Kelly asked: "How much money must (a franchise) lose before someone says 'perhaps they ought not to be there'?"

Kelly added that it may be acceptable for an owner to absorb huge losses for a year or two, but when losses have occurred over a number of years, and there's a buyer ready to step in, the NHL should consider such options.

"Yet we continually hear we have to stick by the franchise," Kelly told The Spectator. "There is some sense of frustration on the part of the players as they read sworn court documents as to how far down it's gone in Phoenix."

Kelly stopped short of specifically supporting Jim Balsillie's bid to transfer the Coyotes to Hamilton.

"We don't formally endorse or support the current effort to move the team to Hamilton, Ontario," Kelly told the radio station. "That's not to say we're against it either, but we are neutral."

The interview was on the Fan590 with Bob McCown and PrimeTime Sports...

Listen to it by clicking in black...

Those of us at OSG HQ think that Kelly's first quote can be substituted on a few different franchises currently floating about- like, oh we don't know, Atlanta...

NHLPA's Kelly: Leafs Not Against Local Rival

((HT: Rogers Sportsnet))

Reinforcing an interview he gave to the Fan960 in Calgary during the Flames-Blackhawks series over the weekend, Paul Kelly, the executive director of the NHLPA, was a guest on Hockeycentral at Noon and he was candid in his belief that the league should place another franchise in Southern Ontario.

"It's a no-brainer to consider the placement of another team here either in Toronto or in Southern Ontario," Kelly said. "There is unparalleled interest here. There's no question it would draw well."

Kelly said although there has been no formal request to Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment about the placement of another team in the Toronto market, he's not certain the Maple Leafs ownership group would get in the way of another franchise.

Kelly does believe the Leafs would prefer to see a rival franchise play out of the Air Canada Centre rather than seeing another arena built somewhere north of the city.

"If you were going to put a second team in Toronto, the Leafs would rather see them in the Air Canada Centre rather than build another arena north of the city."
Kelly explained that the team would rather not see another concert venue built in the city.

Listen to the interview with Daren Millard on the Fan590 and HockeyCentral by clicking in black...