There's a new sheriff in town, and he's lost his interim tag.
On Monday afternoon the NHL announced that Stephane Quintal will take over as the senior vice president of player safety, a role he's served in on an interim basis since Toronto Maple Leafs president Brendan Shanahan's departure in early April.
"Stephane Quintal has been dedicated to the mission of the Department of Player Safety since its creation for the opening of the 2011-12 season and has demonstrated over the last several months that he is uniquely suited to lead the department going forward," NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said in a league release.
"Brendan Shanahan established and built a highly-functioning and well-run department in his three years at its helm. Among his most important decisions was hiring Stephane Quintal to be part of his supervisory team.
"Tasked with running the department last spring during the most intensely-competitive and closely-scrutinized part of our season – the final regular-season weekend and the entire Stanley Cup Playoffs – Stephane proved that he clearly was up to the challenge. I am confident that he is the right man for the job."
Quintal's work as disciplinary czar was mostly exemplary in the 2014 Stanley Cup playoffs, although he did endure a gamut of criticism - including from Don Cherry - for the shortness of a seven game suspension handed out to Minnesota Wild repeat offender Matt Cooke for a knee-on-knee hit that injured Colorado Avalanche defender Tyson Barrie.
A defensive defenseman during his playing days, Quintal appeared in over 1037 NHL games and amassed 1320 penalties in minutes during his 16-year playing career. He's worked with the NHL Department of Player Safety since the 2011-12 hockey season and served on the disciplinary board for the men's ice hockey tournament at the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia.