John Ziegler Jr.

John Augustus Ziegler Jr. (February 9, 1934 – October 25, 2018) was an American lawyer and

Before becoming National Hockey League President in 1977, Ziegler practiced law initially with the firm Dickinson, Wright, McKean and Cudlip, in Detroit, Michigan, and after 1970 on his own. He was involved in the ownership of the Detroit Red Wings, and served one year as chairman of the NHL Board of Governors. Ziegler had also been the Vice-Chairman of the England-based London Lions independent professional ice hockey franchise.^[1]

President of the National Hockey League

Prior to the 1978–79 season, a failed manipulation of the waiver system by the

Ziegler, along with Alan Eagleson, announced on August 6, 1979, that protective helmets would become mandatory in the NHL. The new rule had a grandfather clause that granted players who had signed pro contracts prior to June 1, 1979, the option of wearing helmets or not. Those who chose not to wear one signed liability waivers.^[5]

NHL–WHA merger

Ziegler was the NHL's first American chief executive, and the American teams were far less hostile to the idea of a

Led by Toronto's Harold Ballard, the owners voted down Ziegler's proposal. The Calgary Cowboys, who had hoped to be one of the six teams to join the NHL, subsequently folded, as did the Phoenix Roadrunners, Minnesota Fighting Saints, and San Diego Mariners. This reduced the junior league down to eight teams for the 1977–78 WHA season, and left its long-term future in doubt.^[7] The merger was completed in the 1979–80 season, with four WHA teams, the Edmonton Oilers, Winnipeg Jets, Hartford Whalers and Quebec Nordiques, joining the NHL.

Suspensions handed out by Ziegler

Following a 4–3 Boston Bruins victory over the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on December 23, 1979, an on-ice fray occurred between the players from both teams. During the fray, a Rangers fan cut the face of Bruins player Stan Jonathan with a rolled-up program and grabbed his hockey stick. Boston Bruin Terry O'Reilly climbed over the Plexiglas and went into the stands in pursuit of the offender, followed by fellow Bruin Peter McNab and other teammates. Another Bruin, Mike Milbury, who had actually reached the visitors' locker room when his teammates started going into the stands, raced back to join his colleagues in the brawl. He caught the unruly spectator, removed one of his shoes and, while holding the heel end, hit him hard once with the sole side. Subsequently, Ziegler suspended O'Reilly for eight games and McNab and Milbury for six, with each being fined $500. This incident also resulted in the installation of higher glass panels enclosing rinks in hockey arenas.^[8]

In December 1986, Los Angeles Kings head coach Pat Quinn signed a contract to become coach and general manager of the Vancouver Canucks with just months left on his Kings contract. Ziegler suspended Quinn for the rest of the season and barred him from taking over Vancouver's hockey operations until June. Ziegler also barred him from coaching anywhere in the NHL until the 1990–91 season. In Ziegler's view, Quinn's actions created a serious conflict of interest that could only be resolved by having him removed as coach.^[9]

The 1988 Stanley Cup playoff series between the New Jersey Devils and Boston Bruins featured the infamous confrontation between Devils coach Jim Schoenfeld and referee Don Koharski after Game 3, when, during an argument in the tunnel after the game, Koharski tripped and fell, accusing Schoenfeld of pushing him. Schoenfeld famously responded, "Good, 'cause you fell you fat pig!" Then, he yelled "Have another doughnut! Have another doughnut!" The incident was played repeatedly on ESPN and has since become part of NHL lore. Schoenfeld was suspended by Ziegler for Game 4, but the Devils received an injunction from a New Jersey court, allowing Schoenfeld to coach the fourth game. In protest, the officials scheduled to work that game in the Meadlowands refused to take the ice, forcing the NHL to scramble for amateur officials to call the contest. The injunction was lifted and Schoenfeld served his suspension during Game 5 in the Boston Garden.

In 1990, Edmonton Oilers goaltender Grant Fuhr came forward about his drug use after spending two weeks in a counseling center in Florida. He admitted that he used "a substance"—he did not say cocaine—for some seven years, or most of the period that the Oilers rested at the top of the NHL. Details of Fuhr's drug use were supplied by the player's ex-wife, Corrine, who told the press in Edmonton that she often found cocaine hidden in his clothing and that she fielded numerous threatening telephone calls from drug dealers who had not been paid. These embarrassing details no doubt contributed to the one-year suspension handed down in September 1990 by Ziegler, who called Fuhr's conduct "dishonorable and against the welfare of the league." Once Fuhr was reinstated, fans of opposing teams taunted him at games with bags of sugar.^[10]

Soviet players in the NHL

In 1987, the

Bobby Orr was involved in the 1991 lawsuit of retired NHL players against the NHL over its control of the players' pension fund.^[16] Eagleson was involved there too, arranging for the players to give up a seat on the trusteeship of the pension fund in 1969 to gain the acceptance of the NHLPA with the NHL owners. Orr and ex-Bruin Dave Forbes discussed the lawsuit with the sports newspaper The National. Orr: "Our money is being used to pay pensions for current players".^[17] The NHL's response was to file a notice of libel and slander against Orr and Forbes.^[17] Carl Brewer defended Orr in a letter to then-NHL president John Ziegler: "It is regrettable that the NHL and the member clubs would resort to such treatment of one of our game's icons, Bobby Orr. And isn't it interesting that baseball players who started their pension plan in 1947, as did the NHL, have assets in their plan of some US$500 million while we, as far as we can understand, have US$31.9 million."^[17] The pension lawsuit was finally won by the players in 1994 after two courts ruled against the NHL. The NHL had appealed the case to the Supreme Court of Canada, which decided not to hear the case.^[18]

Ziegler was ultimately forced out of office in

Gary Bettman (the NHL's first commissioner) replaced John Ziegler's successor, Gil Stein. Bettman quickly accomplished one of his stated goals by signing a five-year, $155 million deal with the Fox Broadcasting Company to broadcast NHL games nationally beginning in the 1994–95 season.^[23] The deal was significant, as a network television contract in the United States was long thought unattainable during the presidency of Ziegler.^[24] Ziegler moved back to his legal career by practicing in Detroit, then as alternate Governor with the Chicago Blackhawks^[25] before moving to Florida, where he would remain until his death in 2018.^[26][27]

References