Alan Eagleson - A Hockey Power

A Hockey Power

Three events occurred that helped Eagleson form the NHLPA. The first event was the insistence that Eagleson negotiate Bobby Orr's first professional contract with the Boston Bruins. This led to the beginnings of "agents" in hockey. Secondly, Carl Brewer fought to have his amateur status reinstated. Lastly, Eagleson was involved in representing the Springfield Indians during their negotiations with owner Eddie Shore over players rights. These events solidified Eagleson's reputation, and he became the catalyst for the NHLPA. When the NHLPA was formed in 1967, Eagleson was appointed its first executive director, a position he held for 25 years.

By 1979, Eagleson represented more than a dozen Toronto Maple Leafs players, including Darryl Sittler and his best friend and linemate, Lanny McDonald. Eagleson had a strained relationship with Leafs owner Harold Ballard and general manager Punch Imlach. Imlach believed Sittler had too much influence on the team and tried to undermine his authority with the players. When Sittler and goaltender Mike Palmateer agreed to appear on the TV show Showdown, as negotiated by the NHLPA, Imlach went to court to try to get an injunction to stop them. When Imlach said that he was open to offers for Sittler from other teams, Eagleson said it would cost $500,000 to get Sittler to waive the no-trade clause in his contract. So, instead of trading Sittler, Imlach sent McDonald to the woeful Colorado Rockies on December 29, 1979. In response, Sittler ripped the captain's C off his sweater, later commenting that a captain had to be the go-between with players and management, and he no longer had any communication with management. Ballard likened Sittler's actions to burning the Canadian flag.

Within a decade, Eagleson was one of the most powerful men in hockey, and by some accounts, the most powerful man in the sport. He was even elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1989 as a builder—the only known instance of a union official being elected to the hall of fame in a major team sport. That same year, he was named an Officer of the Order of Canada for his work in promoting the sport.

Over the years, Eagleson developed a very close relationship with league president John Ziegler. For all intents and purposes, the NHL of the 1980s was ruled by a triumvirate of Ziegler, Eagleson and Chicago Blackhawks owner Bill Wirtz.