PITTSBURGH (KDKA/AP) – On Saturday, former MLBPA executive director, Donald Fehr was voted as the new executive director of the NHLPA by an overwhelming number of union members.

Fehr was the MLBPA executive director from 1983 to 2009 and directed the players through the 1994-95 strike that cancelled the World Series.

Fehr has been serving as a consultant for the NHLPA since 2009, and becomes the the fourth executive director of the NHLPA since the ’04-05 NHL lockout.

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said the league was happy that the union found a new boss.

Shelly Anderson of the Post-Gazette caught up with Penguins center Max Talbot, who is the team’s union rep, to get a reaction of Fehr as the new director.

Talbot said, “I think he can bring some stability to the next two years and he’s one of the most experienced guys with any union, and he did a great job with baseball.”

Talbot’s teammate and former player rep Matt Cooke is also excited to have Fehr as the executive director of the NHLPA, and thinks it gives the union “instant credibility” heading into the new CBA negotiations.

The players association will begin discussions in the near future on a new collective bargaining agreement with the NHL owners as the current CBA is set to expire in September of 2012.