Former Major League Baseball union director Donald Fehr has agreed to accept the NHLPA executive director position on an interim basis, Sportsnet’s Nick Kypreos reported Wednesday.
Fehr, who originally took a position as an advisor for the NHLPA shortly after resigning from his MLBPA post in June 2009, will be a short-term solution for the NHL union as 2012 CBA negotiations approach.
The 61-year-old Fehr, who served as director for the MLBPA from 1986 to 2009, garnered a reputation as an uncompromising negotiator during his tenure. He oversaw five labour contracts for the players and was in charge during a seven-plus month strike in 1994-95 that forced the cancellation of the World Series.
The NHLPA has been without an executive director since Paul Kelly was fired in August after spending less than two years on the job.
The NHLPA declined to comment on the report, which was first reported by the Sports Business Journal.
“Throughout the entire search process, the NHLPA search committee has operated in a confidential manner and will continue to do so until their work is complete,” NHLPA spokesperson Jonathan Weatherdon said in a statement.
— With files from THE CANADIAN PRESS
