Ted Saskin (born ) served as the third executive director of the

NHL Players Association The National Hockey League Players' Association (NHLPA, ) is the labour union for the group of professional hockey players who are under Standard Player Contracts to the 32 member clubs in the National Hockey League (NHL) located in the Unite ...

from 2005 to 2007. He assumed the title after Bob Goodenow resigned on July 28, 2005, but was unanimously fired by the NHLPA on May 10, 2007, after a union-commissioned report concluded Saskin had quarterbacked a campaign to hack into player email accounts. Saskin had previously served as NHLPA Senior Director of Business Affairs and Licensing since 1992, as one of Goodenow's new deputies when the latter assumed the role of executive director after the forced resignation of

Alan Eagleson Robert Alan Eagleson (born April 24, 1933) is a disbarred Canadian lawyer, hockey agent and promoter. Clients that he represented included superstars Bobby Orr and Darryl Sittler. He was the first executive director of the NHL Players Assoc ...

. Saskin was credited with taking a more conciliatory approach to collective bargaining agreement negotiations, compared to the hard-line stance of Goodenow, which ended the

2004–05 NHL lockout The 2004–05 NHL lockout was a labor lockout that resulted in the cancellation of the National Hockey League (NHL) season, which would have been its 88th season of play. The main dispute was the league's desire to implement a salary cap to ...

. Saskin was widely seen as the heir apparent to Goodenow and initially touted as a successor due to his knowledge of the CBA, so he became NHLPA Executive Director in 2005 after Goodenow was forced to step down. However, Saskin's hiring came under scrutiny from some players who felt that he was improperly elected and misrepresented salary figures during negotiations with players union president Trevor Linden, a forward with the

Vancouver Canucks The Vancouver Canucks are a professional ice hockey team based in Vancouver. The Canucks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conferenc ...

. On October 2, 2006, a group of NHL players, led by

Chris Chelios Christos Konstantinos Chelios (born January 25, 1962) is an American former professional ice hockey defenseman. He was a three-time Stanley Cup champion: one with the Montreal Canadiens and two with the Detroit Red Wings. Chelios played for th ...

filed a lawsuit in US Federal Court to remove Saskin and also millions of dollars in damages and

punitive damages Punitive damages, or exemplary damages, are damages assessed in order to punish the defendant for outrageous conduct and/or to reform or deter the defendant and others from engaging in conduct similar to that which formed the basis of the lawsuit. ...

. Eventually the lawsuit was dismissed by a judge who ruled that because the NHLPA is based in Toronto, Ontario, that is the appropriate venue for the case. In 2007, Saskin and other union executives came under fire for allegedly inappropriately accessing the private email accounts of players and agents who have challenged his hiring. On March 11, 2007, Saskin was placed on a paid leave of absence from his position as NHLPA executive director, before being let go on May 10. Saskin, who was in the second year of a five-year contract reportedly worth $10 million US, reportedly received nearly $750,000 US in accrued vacation pay and union shares. Saskin is a lawyer and practicing in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

since 1985.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saskin, Ted National Hockey League Players' Association executive directors Living people 1959 births Canadian lawyers