Goodenow steps down from NHLPA post

[Habit]

www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story.asp?id=131693

Goodenow steps down from NHLPA post


TSN.ca Staff

7/28/2005 12:09:58 PM

Bob Goodenow today advised the National Hockey League Players' Association that he would step down as its Executive Director and General Counsel.

The decision followed discussions between Goodenow and members of the Executive Committee about the organization's future.

"With the conclusion of the negotiations and the ratification of the new agreement, the parties concur that this is an appropriate action for the future," said Goodenow. "I am fortunate to have had the opportunity to serve the Players over the past 15 years and to have had the support of a tremendous staff at the NHLPA. I wish the Players every success under the new CBA."

Today, the NHLPA named Ted Saskin, its Senior Director of Business Affairs and Licensing, to succeed Mr. Goodenow as Executive Director and General Counsel. "I have enjoyed working closely with Bob for the Players over the last 15 years. I know how dedicated Bob has been to the Players. I plan to continue to serve them by building on the strong base that Bob created at the NHLPA."

Trevor Linden, the President of the NHLPA, said "Every NHL Player has benefited enormously from Bob's leadership and dedication. He has been a tireless advocate for the Players and he dramatically improved the Players' situation in every respect. Bob built the NHLPA into a first class organization and we are all very grateful to him. Ted has worked closely with Bob every step of the way and has done an excellent job for the Players in our recently concluded CBA negotiations. We have every confidence that he will be able to lead our Association well in the years to come."

[M. Beaux-Eaux]

All good things must come to an end.

[M. Beaux-Eaux]

Departing Caesar gets his tribute

By DAVID NAYLOR

Friday, July 29, 2005 Page S1

OTTAWA -- The tributes directed at Bob Goodenow yesterday sounded much like those said of a once-great hockey player retiring after a not-so-great season.

And if there were reservations about the methods Goodenow used to play out the hand during the National Hockey League lockout, there was also agreement that the outgoing executive director of the National Hockey League Players' Association had served his membership honourably during his 13 years as their leader.

"We all owe Bob a lot," St. Louis Blues forward Scott Mellanby said. "He's done a lot for us, even with the rollback and the lost season. He got our salaries to the point where I make more than I ever dreamed. Under the stagnant leadership of Alan Eagleson, we were going nowhere.

"Could he have carried on? All I can say is that as far as I'm concerned he could have."

- tinyurl.com/dqf48

[M. Beaux-Eaux]

NHL vets appreciate Goodenow's tenure

Canadian Press

7/28/2005 6:49:31 PM

The veterans remember. And for them, Bob Goodenow's legacy at the helm of the NHL Players' Association won't be tarnished by one bad year after 14 good ones.

"I've lived in the Bob Goodenow era - he was there 15 years and I've been in the league 18 years," Vincent Damphousse, a member of the NHLPA's executive committee that ultimately showed him the door, said Thursday in a phone interview. "He's built the staff from nothing to a great organization that's done very well for the players.

"We owe him a lot, because he's done so much for us."

Goodenow joined the union in 1990 and began unofficially running it a year later during Alan Eagleson's downfall. He officially took over in 1992.

The average NHL salary went from $271,000 US in 1991 to $1.83 million in 2004. Veteran players won't soon forget that despite Goodenow's failed strategy during the recently ended lockout.

"It's sad when people judge a career or a long run by the tail end of it," New York Islanders captain Michael Peca said Thursday. "There were a lot of great years in there for the association. He's left us in good shape.

"Bob has done a tremendous job for the players in the game today _ the escalation in salaries _ guys have to be proud of the job that he did for us during that time period," added Peca. "But I think moving forward, it's a new system and a new era and I think everybody feels it that maybe there are some other people to lead that charge."

- www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story.asp?ID=131743&hubName=nhl

[M. Beaux-Eaux]

GOODENOW'S LEGACY

I have to admit, when the news came on Thursday that Bob Goodenow as stepping down as Executive Director of the NHLPA, I was surprised.

Not shocked, but surprised.

We've heard rumours for weeks now that Goodenow might step down, and I'd acknowledged the possibility more than once here in this space and in my Foxsports.com columns.

Still, it seemed out of character for the combative Goodenow to quit, to step aside just because the players opted for a different course of action than the one he'd originally charted on their behalf.

There will be the usual speculation as to whether he went of his own free will or was pushed, and those in the press who didn't like the man will undoubtedly be giving him one more kick before he's out the door.

Granted, the man wasn't perfect. He misjudged the resolve of NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and the team owners this time around. He was about as media friendly as a water moccasin, and he wasn't exactly at the forefront for player safety.

There were complaints that he held too much control over the certification of player agents, and dark questions over his relationship with the controversial David Frost, the agent for now-jailed former player Mike Danton.

Over time, hopefully, someone will get the full, unbiased details as to what really happened behind the scenes at the NHLPA throughout the lockout. I've attempted to piece it together as best I could, based on media reports from PA friendly scribes as well as my own contacts within the organization itself.

There will be those who'll continue to claim that Goodenow misled the players, that he bullied and browbeat them toward certain defeat as this new CBA makes apparent, and that most of the NHL's woes can be laid at his feet.

That of course is BS on a stick.

Goodenow didn't take the players anywhere other than where they wanted to go. According to reports, internal polling of the PA membership prior to the lockout found over 80% of them were willing to sacrifice two seasons to get a deal without a hard cap or linkage.

- spectorshockey.tripod.com/spectors_soapbox.html

[Habs_fan_in_LA]

Steps down??

Did Saskin grant him a full pardon and immunity from prosicution?