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Next OHL Commissioner

It will be interesting to see what they're looking for in the next OHL Commissioner. I have to think a Canadian is going to get the job but I wonder if they would ever consider someone like Craig Goslin from Saginaw for the position. He's a 2-time executive of the year, has Chaired the OHL Board of Directors and was the main person involved in securing the Memorial Cup for Saginaw.

David Branch was in town on Friday for Brandon Saad's jersey retirement (which I thought was a little strange) but maybe he and Craig were talking about a future in the commissioners office? You never know.
 
It will be interesting to see what they're looking for in the next OHL Commissioner. I have to think a Canadian is going to get the job but I wonder if they would ever consider someone like Craig Goslin from Saginaw for the position. He's a 2-time executive of the year, has Chaired the OHL Board of Directors and was the main person involved in securing the Memorial Cup for Saginaw.

David Branch was in town on Friday for Brandon Saad's jersey retirement (which I thought was a little strange) but maybe he and Craig were talking about a future in the commissioners office? You never know.
Maybe I’m totally wrong here, but in the monkey see, monkey do world of the Canadian Hockey League, I’d be surprised if any of the rumoured candidates get the gig.

Here’s a snapshot of the kind of people now leading the CHL, the WHL, and the QMJHL.

The new(ish) CHL president, Dan Mackenzie, comes to the job with this background:

“Dan MacKenzie has more than 20 years of experience working at the NBA, including the last eight years as Managing Director of NBA Canada. During his time leading the NBA in Canada, he spearheaded many of the league’s signature achievements in the country and this season was instrumental in the NBA’s record-breaking year in Canada, that included the most-viewed NBA season in history, a record 32 marketing partners activating across the country, and the all-time mark for NBA merchandise sales.

MacKenzie sits on the Licensing Industry Merchandisers’ Association (LIMA) Canada Board of Advisors, was the former Chair of the Sponsorship Marketing Council of Canada (SMCC) and was the recipient of the George Brown College Alumni Achievement Award. He holds a Masters degree in Sports Management from the University of Ohio, a Bachelor of Commerce degree from McMaster University, a Bachelor of Education degree from Brock University, and is a graduate of George Brown College Sport and Event Marketing Program.


The newish WHL commissioner, Dan Near, comes to the job with this background:

“Near most recently served as the Global Head of Adidas Hockey and was responsible for leading Adidas’ entry into hockey, managing their global hockey business since 2016. Near established and deployed adidas’ hockey strategy to build global credibility. This included partnerships with top athletes, including Sidney Crosby, Connor McDavid, Mathew Barzal, Sarah Nurse and Kendall Coyne Schofield, collaborations with relevant brands including EA Sports and Disney, and investment and engagement with key industry stakeholders, the PWHPA and NHLPA. Under Near’s leadership, Adidas conceptualized and delivered meaningful brand initiatives through hockey, including brand identity and uniform designs for the Seattle Kraken and Vegas Golden Knights – among the most meaningful brand introductions in North American sport history – as well as the widely popular NHL Reverse Retro jersey initiative in 2020 and 2022. Near’s time with Adidas also saw the introduction of the NHL’s first sustainable jersey – a collaboration with Parley for the Oceans at the 2019 NHL All-Star Game.


Prior to his time with Adidas, Near spent 10 years at the National Hockey League’s head office in New York, specializing in marketing, retail development, and consumer product licensing from 2006 through 2016. During this time, Near played a key role in expanding the League’s consumer relevance and impact through partnership and collaboration with key retail brands including Dick’s Sporting Goods and Sport Chek. Near led NHL’s global retail strategy which included the launch of the NHL Powered by Reebok Store in New York City in 2007 as well as oversight of retail programming at the NHL’s international events, the NHL Winter Classic, All-Star Game, Stadium Series, and Stanley Cup.”

Finally, the newish QMJHL commissioner, Mario Cecchini, comes to the job with this background:

“Cecchini had a 15-year career with Telemedia Radio, where he was of vice president of sales and marketing and executive vice-president in charge of the company's Ontario stations. In 2002, he became the vice president of sales for the TQS Television Network. In 2003, he was appointed president and chief operating officer of Zoom Media. He then served as a vice-president of Corus Quebec. In 2011 he became the senior vice-president, sales and marketing at Astral Radio. In 2013, Cecchini joined Corus Entertainment as president of Corus Media Quebec. In this role, he oversaw the company's radio and television stations in Eastern Ontario as well as French-language cable television assets and Ottawa radio stations acquired from Bell/Astral. In 2018 he started his own consulting firm.

In 2020, Cecchini was named president of the Montreal Alouettes the Canadian Football League. Under Cecchini's leadership, the Alouettes saw increased corporate sponsorship and average attendance rose from 13,063 in 2021 to 17,683 in 2022. In December 2022, the estate of Sid Spiegel, which had controlling interest in the team, informed Cecchini that his contract would not be renewed. On February 14, 2023, the Canadian Football League took control of the Alouettes and Cecchini returned to the team as interim president. The team was sold to Pierre Karl Peladeau on March 10, 2023, and Cecchini stepped down as president on April 6, 2023.”

I can’t offer any specific names, but there’s a clear “type” of person the OHL likely wants, and it’s likely similar to Mackenzie, Near and Cecchini.
 
Great info and it's exactly why I think Goslin could be an outside candidate for the gig. Goslin has been the consummate salesman ever since his days selling tools for Hilti. He's the absolute king of corporate partnerships and anyone who has been to the Dow Event Center knows that there's not a single square inch that's not sponsored by something and if he can find that square inch, he's going to sell it. He's obviously been working very closely with Dan Mackenzie with the CHL for the Memorial Cup as Dan's been recognized during a game or two this year.

This is happening in other sports too...Notre Dame just hired an executive (and ND Alum) from NBC Sports to be their new athletic director. I doubt he has any experience running an athletic department but I'm sure he knows how to make media and licensing deals happen. He'll find assistants who can run the day to day of the athletic department. That's the type of person that the CHL is looking to hire as a commissioner...someone who's going to generate money, media and views for the league and its partners.
 
i dont think it will be a hockey person per say, it will be a business person, perhaps a lawyer, who can revolutionize alot of what they organization does.
 
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It will be interesting to see what they're looking for in the next OHL Commissioner. I have to think a Canadian is going to get the job but I wonder if they would ever consider someone like Craig Goslin from Saginaw for the position. He's a 2-time executive of the year, has Chaired the OHL Board of Directors and was the main person involved in securing the Memorial Cup for Saginaw.

David Branch was in town on Friday for Brandon Saad's jersey retirement (which I thought was a little strange) but maybe he and Craig were talking about a future in the commissioners office? You never know.

Was also thinking Craig as well
 
Given that Branch announced late last summer that he would be retiring “at the end of the season” and subsequent published reports indicated “after the Memorial Cup,” we should know very soon who gets the job. I’m not aware of any rumours — this has been kept very quiet/in-house for a long time.
 
Given that Branch announced late last summer that he would be retiring “at the end of the season” and subsequent published reports indicated “after the Memorial Cup,” we should know very soon who gets the job. I’m not aware of any rumours — this has been kept very quiet/in-house for a long time.
he may hav to stay a bit longer. they offered it to someone but didn’t pay as much as he wanted so he walked. not anyone that was mentioned in the media
 
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he may hav to stay a bit longer. they offered it to someone but didn’t pay as much as he wanted so he walked. not anyone that was mentioned in the media
In 2022, Branch earned $568,395.

Because the OHL accepted provincial government money, annual salaries $100K and above were published via the Ontario Sunshine list.

David Branch's Salary History at Ontario Major Junior Hockey League. Ontario's Sunshine List

Doesn’t mean that’s the annual salary offered to the preferred candidate — my guess is that the offer was for significantly less, given Branch worked for 4+ decades to reach that level.

Tough spot. The headhunting firm the league used, Odgers Berndtson, was searching for candidates with the following background:

“The Commissioner will have a minimum of seven years of proven experience in leadership and commercially focused roles with a keen ability to build consensus across complex, multi-stakeholder organizations. The successful candidate will have proven business acumen, be a strong negotiator and a demonstrated ability to lead individuals and organizations to accomplished established goals and future vision.”

Obviously, this is not an unemployed person — it’s someone currently earning a handsome salary, someone a current employer would be loathe to lose. Such folks don’t come cheap, and you get what you pay for.

On the plus side, Odgers Berndtson hasn’t yet re-posted the position, which usually means they have other candidates they can confidently present to the league. If they do re-post, it usually means they’ve had to go back to the client (the OHL) to re-shape the position, or worse — the originally short-listed candidates are no longer available. Snooze, you lose. Full disclosure here, one of my sisters ran her own boutique headhunting firms for years, so I know a bit about how all this usually plays out.

Definitely an extremely important decision for the league. The CHL president, Dan Mackenzie, reports directly to the three league commissioners, so whoever gets the gig needs to know how to handle a board with 20 members AND work in-committee with two other league commissioners. I can think of 2-3 guys who have proven experience in these areas, but they’re all currently under contract and would absolutely not come cheap.
 
In 2022, Branch earned $568,395.

Because the OHL accepted provincial government money, annual salaries $100K and above were published via the Ontario Sunshine list.

David Branch's Salary History at Ontario Major Junior Hockey League. Ontario's Sunshine List

Doesn’t mean that’s the annual salary offered to the preferred candidate — my guess is that the offer was for significantly less, given Branch worked for 4+ decades to reach that level.

Tough spot. The headhunting firm the league used, Odgers Berndtson, was searching for candidates with the following background:

“The Commissioner will have a minimum of seven years of proven experience in leadership and commercially focused roles with a keen ability to build consensus across complex, multi-stakeholder organizations. The successful candidate will have proven business acumen, be a strong negotiator and a demonstrated ability to lead individuals and organizations to accomplished established goals and future vision.”

Obviously, this is not an unemployed person — it’s someone currently earning a handsome salary, someone a current employer would be loathe to lose. Such folks don’t come cheap, and you get what you pay for.

On the plus side, Odgers Berndtson hasn’t yet re-posted the position, which usually means they have other candidates they can confidently present to the league. If they do re-post, it usually means they’ve had to go back to the client (the OHL) to re-shape the position, or worse — the originally short-listed candidates are no longer available. Snooze, you lose. Full disclosure here, one of my sisters ran her own boutique headhunting firms for years, so I know a bit about how all this usually plays out.

Definitely an extremely important decision for the league. The CHL president, Dan Mackenzie, reports directly to the three league commissioners, so whoever gets the gig needs to know how to handle a board with 20 members AND work in-committee with two other league commissioners. I can think of 2-3 guys who have proven experience in these areas, but they’re all currently under contract and would absolutely not come cheap.
they were 50k apart and the league didnt move on it. thats not on david branch btw its on the owners. the candidate was a lawyer with nhl management experence. i think the league dropped the ball if the rumours are true.
 
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Golf and football? Most hockey players golf in the off season but not many play football. Will be very interesting to see how he transfers this to a hockey management career.
Might be hard for him to weigh in on suspensions being as football is all about no holds barred hits lol.
Bryan Crawford is there to mainly oversee the business side of the league, as someone predicted in an earlier post.
 
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