The status of executive director Donald Fehr could be on the agenda when the NHLPA meets on Monday.
“One of the things Monday that will be addressed is the future of Donald Fehr as the executive director of the PA,” Sportsnet’s Jeff Marek said during the 32 Thoughts segment on Hockey Night in Canada on Saturday.
The meeting will be an executive board call, which includes one player representative from every team.
This meeting comes after a bombshell report by Jenner & Block LLP exposed the findings of an investigation into the sexual assault allegations made against then-Chicago Blackhawks video coach Brad Aldrich by John Doe, now revealed as Kyle Beach.
According to the 107-page report, which can be found here, Fehr was contacted twice about allegations connected to Aldrich, including by a Beach confidant. Fehr told investigators he couldn’t recall either conversation, but did not deny that they had occurred.
Beach addressed this and criticized Fehr in his interview with TSN’s Rick Westhead on Wednesday. In response to the interview, Fehr released a statement acknowledging that the association should have done more to protect Beach.
Added Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman on Saturday: “Now, according to the players’ association’s own constitution, the players do have the ability, if they want, to go into a private session. The way it is written, the executive director chairs it unless the matters discussed relate to the position and performance of that person.
“In that case, the executive board may continue its meeting in an executive session, and Donald Fehr would not be part of it. Twenty members constitutes a quorum, and if they decide to vote to remove him, they would need at least 18 yeses to do it.
“The players are very angry. There are some agents who are concerned with plunging the union into chaos and there is also a belief that Donald Fehr might say, ‘Look, I will agree to resign or step down on such-and-such a date, as long as we can create an orderly transition,’ but we’re not sure if the players will accept that.”
Marek added that although there is no obvious replacement for Fehr, one of the names that has popped up this week is that of Mathieu Schneider, who since 2018 has been a special assistant to Fehr.
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