Starting that union was something I believed in very strongly.

When it was my turn, I just skated out and heard this huge cheer. It was very touching considering the bad circumstances under which I had left the team and that I had been away for four years.

Let me tell you, I'm a union member myself, ... I believe very strongly in unions. What my objection is to having union bosses take money out of a worker's paycheck and use it for political campaigns without permission is wrong.

But a funny thing happened four years later. I was invited to play for an alumni team against the Red Wings.

With me serving as the president, we filed a $3-million lawsuit against the league and its member clubs in an attempt to win increased pension benefits and a larger share Of television revenue.

They thought we were going to hurt the game, but we just wanted to help ourselves, because the players needed to get together to protect their interests.