Daniel Paille is part of Boston’s ‘Merlot line’. Number twenty has been with the Bruins since 2009, when he was traded by the Buffalo Sabres in exchange for a third round draft pick. Paille, along with fellow winger Shawn Thornton and center Gregory Campbell have be
Paille is the current NHLPA rep for the Boston Bruins. He has been serving in that position since February 2011. He got the job when his predecesor Marc Stuart was traded to Atlanta Thrashers (now Winnipeg Jets). “Negotiations seem to be moving fairly well right now,” offered Paille. “Right now, our main focus is just to start a season. We know it’s a process, but it shouldn’t be too bad. Everyone’s main goal is to start the season.”
The ‘merlot’ forward has not directly participated in this year’s negotiations that have bounced back and forth between New York and Toronto. “For my particular role, I find out how negations are going and what they’re talking about, and then eventually I just try to inform the players as much as I can. I won’t necessarily contact players, but if players contact me I’ll give them as much information as I know and do the best I can that way.” He did participate last year when the NHLPA had meetings with executive director Don Fehr in Chicago.
“Chicago was pretty much a positive format for us. “We basically went through the details of the season and pretty much what’s to come. At that point we didn’t know anything from the NHL’s standpoint, so we just kind of focused on what we wanted to work on and main points like that. … It was very knowledgeable for me to be there to learn more of the legal issues that there are. It’s not as bad as it may seem.”
Dan had been rather upbeat through out the process. “For me, I always look at things in a positive way,” . “I think that’s just my personality, and I think it’s something good to have. We can see how things play out, but I think right now it’s too early. We’ll see in the next few weeks and next month or so how severe it is, but right now it seems to be going very well.” As a member of Bruins Nation, I do not relish being in disagreement with a Bruins player. First we had the Tim Thomas saga. (Love the HOCKEY player, even if you’re not crazy about what the hockey PLAYER is saying, folks.) Now we’ve got NHL owners that are asking the players to take another round of massive hits. Why? From what I can read, they have been throwing good money out the window, and need to be saved from themselves.
To be honest, I wish I was little more like Paille here.