Mr. Speaker, the game of hockey has lost a true stalwart. Brian O’Neill served 52 years with the National Hockey League, nearly all of those as executive vice-president.

Hired by Clarence Campbell in 1966, he oversaw the 1967 expansion, supervised the draft, managed scheduling and was the league’s disciplinarian. During his tenure, 6,595 players played in the NHL in a total of 52,092 games. In 1994, he was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in the Builders category.

Brian O’Neill’s leadership was rooted in his integrity, humanity and good humour. To quote NHL historian Dave Stubbs, he was as “honest as a rink is long, and as playful as a game of shinny.”

Commissioner Gary Bettman has spoken of Brian’s elegance, grace, dignity, meticulous attention to detail and important counsel.

To Brian’s wife of 68 years, Jean, and children Sean, Darcy, Nancy, Patrick and Sandy, we offer our condolences.