Bob Goodenow

Robert W. “Bob” Goodenow (born October 29, 1952 in Dearborn, Michigan) is an American manager, who became the Executive Director of the National Hockey League Players Association in 1992, succeeding the controversial Alan Eagleson. On July 28, 2005, Goodenow announced his resignation as Executive Director, with Ted Saskin being named his replacement.

Goodenow graduated from Harvard University in 1974 and from the University of Detroit Law School in 1979.

Goodenow succeeded Alan Eagleson as the head of the NHLPA in 1992 when Eagleson was forced out after allegations of fraud and embezzment. In Goodenow’s first couple of months on the job, he led the players out on a 10-day strike on the eve of the Stanley Cup playoffs. The strike was a major contrast to Eagleson’s style which had been “cozy up” with favoured owners and it succeeded in gaining the players ownership rights over hockey cards. Two years later, he and NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman oversaw a 103-day lockout that lasted from October 1, 1994 to January 11, 1995. Although the 1995 agreement appeared to favour the NHL owners, over time the NHLPA agents under Goodenow’s leadership exploited loopholes in the agreement and it ended up favouring the players heavily.

During his tenure as NHLPA chief, he oversaw significant increases in player salaries in the span of a decade. However, Goodenow’s tactics have come under fire because of his focus on raising player salaries without regard to certain NHL teams who started to experience serious financial difficulties.

During the 2004-2005 labor dispute, the issue of cost certainty came to the forefront. Goodenow was criticised for ignoring the bleak financial situation of the NHL and for not considering a salary cap for NHL teams, which would meet Bettman’s demands for “cost certainty”. Eventually, Goodenow did offer a salary cap of $52 million, but that was far above the $40 million cap that Bettman wanted. By February 16, 2005, the sides were still far apart, at $49 million and $42.5 million respectively, and the 2004-05 NHL season was canceled entirely. A tentative agreement was reached on July 13, 2005.

On July 28, 2005 Goodenow was asked to step down as NHLPA chief and was replaced by Ted Saskin, NHLPA Senior Director of Business Affairs and Licensing and the head negotiator during the CBA contract talks. This resignation came less than two weeks after the NHL and the NHLPA came to the new CBA . Consensus among the hockey media is that he did not resign under his own wishes, but instead was pushed into resigning due to the perception that he mishandled the negotiations and underestimated the resolve and unity of the NHL owners.