from Rick Westhead of the Toronto Star,
The only way a union for major junior hockey players can work is with the help of the NHL Players’ Association.
That’s the view of Gilles Lupien, a former defenceman with the Montreal Canadiens who is now an agent for professional and amateur hockey players.
Lupien said a mainstream union will struggle to win over the public and the families of some players, who would see the move as a cash-grab.
But the NHLPA, Lupien said, is better positioned to act as an umbrella organization protecting the rights of hockey’s budding stars before they graduate to the NHL.
The Star reported this week that Unifor, Canada’s largest private-sector union, is trying to organize players in Quebec’s major junior hockey league and then take its efforts west across Canada, eventually organizing all 60 of the Canadian Hockey League’s franchises.
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