Former NHLPA executive director Paul Kelly.Paul Chiasson/The Canadian Press
Paul Kelly may have left the NHL Players' Association amid turmoil, but the troubled organization's former executive director is staying in hockey.
Kelly confirmed to The Globe and Mail this weekend that he has accepted the position of executive director of College Hockey, Inc., a new organization dedicated to the business and promotional side of Division I hockey in the NCAA.
A Boston native, Kelly will be officially introduced in the role on Tuesday before a game between the Harvard Crimson and the Boston University Terriers at Harvard University.
Kelly was fired from the NHLPA amidst dubious circumstances at the end of August, less than two years after he was hired to replace Ted Saskin. The firing was followed by a wave of resignations within the organization and the formation of a review committee led by former player Chris Chelios and current NHLers Nick Lidstrom, Mark Recchi and Rob Blake.
Earlier this month, outgoing baseball union leader Donald Fehr agreed to assist the NHLPA in its search for its fifth executive director. The association has had four alone - including Saskin, Kelly and two interim leaders - since the 2004-05 lockout.