In announcing the appointment, the union stated that the players voted “overwhelmingly” in favour of Fehr taking the reins. Fehr was recommended by a search committee to the executive board in September.
The 62-year-old, who served as the executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association from 1983 until 2009, has been working as an advisor to the NHLPA in recent months. “This process took a while and it took a while because from the players' standpoint they wanted to be sure,” Fehr said.
“From my standpoint I wanted them to be sure they had made a decision they were comfortable with, that all the players had an opportunity to have their say and that this judgement represented a consensus view of the entire membership,” he added. "It has and that's both quite an honour to me and is also quite humbling."
The NHLPA has had four different leaders since the end of the 2004-05 NHL lockout, and the League’s current collective bargaining agreement with the union is scheduled to expire in September 2012.
NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said in a statement: “We are pleased that the leadership position at the Players' Association has been filled, and we look forward to working with Don in his new role.”
