Shawn Horcoff says he stands by the board's decision to fire Paul Kelly, regardless of whether he believes it was the right thing to do or not, but as a member of the NHLPA's 30-player executive board, who participated in the marathon meetings leading up to Kelly's firing, Horcoff admits feeling pressure from the PA's advisory board and interim ombudsman, Buzz Hargrove.
"I never felt comfortable with the environment the advisory board created in the meetings in Chicago," Horcoff said.
"They had a lot to say. They took up a lot of our time and had strong influence on the decision made."
The Oilers veteran remains firm in his support of the board's decision and doesn't waiver when pushed on the outcome.
However, he understands why other players such as Sidney Crosby, Rob Blake and Chris Chelios are questioning whether the decision to dump Kelly was made too quickly.
In hindsight, Horcoff says waiting and discussing the issues with his teammates would have been the right thing to do.
"I don't think we should been allowed to make that decision in such a rush," Horcoff told TSN.
"That decision should have waited...it needed to wait. We should have brought our findings back to our teammates and allowed for further discussion with the players."
That didn't happen and Horcoff admits his Oilers teammates were upset at being kept in the dark before a decision of this magnitude was made.
"Hopefully, more players will now want to get involved. We don't have a lot of experience or clout in there. It doesn't have to be star players, or college grads, but experience helps and will make a difference."
"If players are pissed off, maybe they'll start getting involved," Horcoff concluded.