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The National Hockey League Players' Association is ready to talk strategy with some of the most influential people in sports labour.

Major League Baseball Players Association executive director Donald Fehr, MLBPA general counsel Michael Weiner and former National Basketball Players Association executive director Charles Grantham are scheduled to meet with members of the NHLPA in Toronto this month.

The plan is for Fehr, Weiner and Grantham to help the NHLPA plot its future without former executive director Ted Saskin, who was fired with cause last month. Taking part in the meeting will be as many NHLPA player representatives as available, along with any players in the Southern Ontario area who wish to attend.

"I met with [Fehr, Weiner and Grantham] and we'd be crazy not to listen to these guys," said Detroit Red Wings defenceman Chris Chelios, whose dogged questioning of Saskin's hiring and in-office tactics led to his ouster. "Major League Baseball has the best union in sports and they're willing to help us."

Chelios said the three union officials, current and past, are willing to lend their expertise to help the NHLPA regain its stature as a unified and viable front. The rationale is that a weak union in one professional sport can undermine a union's bargaining position in another.

"If one sport gives something up, others follow, like the National Football League," Chelios said. "[What if NHL officials say] why not do what the NFL did and have no guaranteed contracts? I think there should be interaction within the unions. It's important."

Fehr, a protégé of Marvin Miller, who negotiated MLBPA's first collective labour agreement in 1968, has dealt with everything from strikes to the cancellation of the 1994 World Series. He also claimed there was collusion among club owners to keep salaries down and won $280-million (all currency U.S.) in damages for the players.

Weiner has been with the MLBPA since 1988 and has previously worked as counsel for the NHLPA in salary arbitration hearings.

Grantham's background is equally interesting. Now a senior faculty director with the Wharton Sports Business Initiative in Philadelphia, Grantham resigned as the head of the National Basketball Players Association in 1995. His departure was somewhat similar to that of Bob Goodenow, who stepped down as the NHLPA boss after the players agreed to accept a salary cap in their collective agreement with the league.

When Grantham resigned amid much confusion, some players complained that they weren't given a say in the selection of Grantham's successor, Simon Gourdine.

One of the highlight's of Grantham's seven-year tenure as the executive director was in 1993 when he sued the National Basketball Association for underreporting revenues due to the players under the salary-cap agreement. The suit paid the players $62-million.

"[Grantham] said we need a forensic accountant to keep an eye on the owners," Chelios said. "That's what the NBA did and [the owners] got caught. [Grantham] said we have the worst deal in sports and all we can do is make sure the money is there and it's all accounted for."

The players recently appointed a three-man advisory committee to meet with various business leaders and union heads, such as Fehr, to identify what strengths the NHLPA will need from its new leader. There have been suggestions the NHLPA should look outside the usual avenues (former players and player agents) and hire someone who can help boost revenues.

Shawn Horcoff of the Edmonton Oilers, Bryan Muir of the Washington Capitals and Eric Lindros of the Dallas Stars are the committee members who will report back this month.

As for Saskin, both he and the players are waiting for the results of the independent investigation of the NHLPA being done by Toronto lawyer Sheila Block. Her report is due in late August and could be assisted by former NHLPA director of marketing Ken Kim, who resigned last Friday and may be willing to co-operate with Block.

Saskin and Kim were implicated in an alleged surveillance campaign that included the accessing and blocking of player e-mail. The alleged electronic snooping, known as Big Brother, also pried into the personal e-mail account of former NHL player Trent Klatt, another critic of Saskin's hiring. Klatt is considering legal action.

"I'd say about 85 per cent of the guys don't know what happened with the executive committee and Ted Saskin," Chelios said. "The more who know, the better it is because once they understand they'll feel as strongly as I do. We have to make sure this doesn't happen again."