Posted by Sabrina B. @gametimegirl

It’s official: Former baseball players union chief Don Fehr will lead the NHL Players Association’s negotiations during the next collective-bargaining talks.
The NHLPA announced Saturday that Fehr was overwhelmingly approved by its membership as the new executive director.

“I am both humbled and honored by the expression of confidence that the players’ vote reflects,” he said in a statement. “I’m looking forward to working closely with the membership and the Executive Board.”

Fehr, 62, had been with the Major League Baseball Players Association for 33 years and was executive director from 1983 to 2009. During that time, in 1994, the World Series was canceled because of a player strike.

The NHL’s CBA expires in 2012. The last talks, in 2004, resulted in a lockout and the cancellation of the 2004-05 season. The union eventually agreed to a salary cap.

Bob Goodenow stepped down as executive director soon after and replacements Ted Saskin and Paul Kelly were subsequently fired. Fehr had been advising the union recently.

Though the cap has been in place since 2005, players are unhappy with an escrow clause that has a certain portion of their paychecks placed into a fund to ensure that salaries don’t exceed the prescribed percentage of revenues.

Also at issue in talks: whether NHL players will be part of the 2014 Olympics in Sochi, Russia. Players, particularly Russian stars, want to go, but the league hasn’t committed.

The players also approved a new union constitution.

Written by By Mike Brehm, USA TODAY