Find a good professional athlete whose autobiography isn't ghostwritten. OK, that would take too long and likely end up fruitless, anyway. How about finding a controversial contract holdout without an agent playing a prominent role. Same frustrating result.

So, when it comes to evaluating Alexei Yashin and his recently ended one-year holdout with the Ottawa Senators, attorney Mark Gandler needs to be involved. Directly.

Who, exactly, is this guy?

	Alexei Yashin, right, and Mark Gandler, lower left, have generated a lot of negative publicity in the last 15 months.

Most NHL fans know of Gandler's name through the Yashin story -- that he helped orchestrate the acrimonious holdout. Few have ever seen him nor heard his spoken voice. Just stories in the paper -- and no Yashin on the ice. Gandler has said some outrageous things while standing up for the contract rights of various clients, many of whom have been holdouts just like Yashin -- like Alexander Karpovtsev in Toronto right now.

"We could care less about the fans' support," replied Gandler when asked what Yashin will do to heal his bond with Senators fans. "It makes no difference to us whatsoever."

Loose-lipped, loose cannon or whatever. This guy might not know how to sweet-talk the fans and NHL general managers, but he has been around long enough to know how people will react to statements like that.

Gandler is a 44-year-old native of Russia who entered the game of North American professional hockey when Russian players began coming over in the early '90s. Interestingly, current Blues GM Larry Pleau, then with the Rangers, painted a bit of a brighter picture of Gandler. Pleau and former Rangers GM Neil Smith dealt with Gandler back when the Rangers coveted players like Karpovtsev and Alexei Kovalev. "I never had any problem with him," Pleau said. "But I didn't deal with him just with contracts, and every situation is different. It's clear what they tried to achieve (with Yashin), but I really couldn't tell you what he was thinking."

Call that favorable or neutral, it certainly isn't an evil condemnation like Gandler has received in the press, especially in Canada. But admittedly, Pleau dealt with Gandler a long time ago. Read any quote Gandler makes today -- or contract stance he takes -- and he doesn't seem to have a concern with the public's reaction or the short-term results for his clients.

"We felt as a franchise player, giving a hell of a lot, helping make an expansion team into a Cup contender, he deserved an extension at the least," Gandler said. "The other side (the Senators) failed to deliver. The other side was arrogant about it. When we had previously asked for something to be done, they said 'next year,' and next year they didn't deliver. It was better for him not to play (last season)."

How can that help his cause or that of his client? How can the Senators fans, who saw Yashin for the first time Monday night in an exhibition game, be blamed for booing someone they feel bailed on them for more money -- money that, to date, had not been increased in any amount?

Alienating a player with the fans often is unavoidable, but if there were a handbook, "Agents 101," there's a good chance the section on subtlety would sitpulate never to directly express indifference toward the paying customer. So, where does Gandler get credibility with the players -- aside from his decade of experience in representing Russian players since he received his NHLPA certification in 1996?

First of all, despite some of the blunt things he says, Gandler is no dummy. He holds degrees from NYU and Columbia. Of course, as anyone in sports knows, a good degree can be discounted for many reasons, but Gandler didn't attend these schools for athletics, and he doesn't have three generations of legacies at these high-brow institutions. People don't fake their way to a law degree and a Master's in economics.

"The Senators kept his rights for a whole year. He couldn't play anywhere," said Gandler when asked to address the Yashin siutation from a legal perspective. "They didn't pay him. They didn't terminate his contract. They kept a whole bundle of his rights. If he doesn't play one more year for the Ottawa Sentators, he'll never play the rest of his life."

He makes a relevant point. For $3.6 million, it's not indentured servitude, but it doesn't sound too fair, either. Gandler insists what the Senators did was un-American. Despite the fact that his client works mainly in Canada, there isn't too much American about walking out on a signed contract, no matter how bleak the future looks.

In America, people usually at least wait for the contract to run out before going on strike.

From all accounts, it truly seems that neither Gandler nor Yashin expected any of this to reach the level it did, namely for a court of law to edjudicate his contractual fate -- "We certainly didn't expect ... the arbiter's decision." -- but he also must have been prepared for the possibility.

None of that concerns Gandler, who remains undaunted in his defense of Yashin's decision. And as for how people should perceive Yashin after all this?

"He (Yashin) believes, and I believe, that contract disputes are personal and have nothing to do with the team and nothing to do with his feelings toward the team," Gandler said. "We question anyone's sincerity when they sign and say they did it to be with the team and organization. You sign for yourself; you play for the team. That's what he conveyed to the public. Once he's back with the team, it's different."

We shall see how different.

Brian A. Shactman is the NHL editor for ESPN.com.