A week after the NHL Players’ Association members ratified the new collective bargaining agreement with the league and union head Bob Goodenow said he intended to remain on the job, Goodenow resigned Thursday.
At a news conference in Toronto, Goodenow downplayed disagreements he had with the union’s executive committee about the NHLPA’s acceptance of a hard salary cap as the centerpiece of a new agreement. That agreement ended a 10-month lockout and followed cancellation of the 2004-05 season.
Goodenow said he and the union had worked out an “accommodation” on the remaining time on his contract, which ran through 2007.
NHLPA senior director Ted Saskin, who appeared with Goodenow at the news conference, will succeed him.
Avalanche defenseman Bob Boughner, an NHLPA vice president, praised Goodenow, but said the executive committee made it clear to Goodenow that a change might benefit all.
“I think after the dust settled and it was ratified, we had to take the next look at what was going forward,” Boughner said from his home in Ontario. “Bob’s contract was (through) 2007, and when we signed him to that deal, we all were under the assumption that it was his last deal and he was going to retire. So basically, we looked at it, tried to accelerate the process and he agreed. Obviously, there were some philosophical differences, but that’s how we kind of came to a mutual decision.
“Saying all that, I really would like to make clear that the players owe Bob a lot for the last 10 years. By no means are we departing under angry terms. We all respect Bob to the fullest. It’s just that going forward, we felt like we needed a change.”
Goodenow’s successor, Saskin, became more visible as the negotiations proceeded. Last winter, he frequently was negotiating on a one-on-one basis with NHL executive vice president Bill Daly, who also has been promoted in the wake of the agreement – to deputy commissioner.
Though Goodenow hadn’t favored the union’s softening of its position against a salary cap and didn’t take part in many of the negotiating sessions that led to the agreement, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman had been on the sidelines as well during many of the substantive talks. Also, Goodenow’s mother died last week, during the final stages of ratification. Finally, Saskin said that even when Goodenow wasn’t present, the two men remained in touch, “so any suggestion that Bob wasn’t intimately involved couldn’t be any further from the truth.”
Last week, Goodenow had said he enjoyed his job and intended to continue in it, but he said that changed after he met with the executive board.
“I think that the transition which would have occurred in the future, being moved up as it has been today, is the right step at the right time,” Goodenow said. “There’s an old saying, ‘When it feels good and it looks good, go ahead and do it.’ And that’s what we’ve done.”
Boughner said he didn’t believe the union had repudiated Goodenow.
“Everybody knew what our initial outlook was, that we’d never take a cap,” Boughner said. “As time progressed and things changed, us on the executive (committee) realized that the players weren’t prepared to sit out two years. In the end, Bob had to listen to his executive committee and his players, because we’re his bosses. I think if it was Bob’s personal choice, he would have liked to have extended it and seen what happened. But all the circumstances wouldn’t allow him to do that.”
Still, Goodenow said he ultimately had supported the new CBA.
“At the end of the day,” he said, “I was very comfortable telling the players that the agreement, as outlined to them, I could support it.”
As he has done many times, Goodenow again rejected the commonly expressed view that personal animosity between him and Bettman had been a problem.
“We’ve definitely had our differences of opinion, but when you describe it as animosity, I think that’s a mischaracterization of the reality,” he said. “We represent – did represent – our respective parties to the best of our abilities.”
Goodenow took over as the NHLPA’s head in 1992, after he had been with the organization for a year. At the time, the NHLPA was reeling because of the leadership of former head Alan Eagleson, who ended up serving jail time for fraud.
Terry Frei can be reached at 303-820-1895 or tfrei@denverpost.com.
