Presumably Andy McDonald isn't embarrassed anymore, seeing as how the league and the NHLPA finally have hammered out a CBA that everyone can live with. A few days ago, though, before the lockout ended, he told the Post-Dispatch's Jeremy Rutherford this:
"It’s the first time I’ve been embarrassed to say that I’m an NHL hockey player."
It's understandable that McDonald is embarrassed about the CBA resolution process that took 113 days. It's alienated fans and caused both the teams and the players a holy PR nightmare. Should that embarrassment carry over to being a player itself?
I get what AMac's saying here, but there's nothing to be mortified over for him. He's in the best hockey league in the world, which means that, of course, he's one of the best at his job that same world. There is nothing wrong with being a professional hockey player who is NHL caliber. There's really little for McDonald to be embarrassed over as far as participating in the CBA talks. He's been optimistic since the beginning that a compromise would be reached, as you can tell from many of the quotes in Rutherford's article. He's been realistic, hasn't tweeted pics of him holding huge bricks of cash or with a new sports car, and has been more than professional.
The lockout's been mortifying for the league and the players, but it's easy to separate the business side from the sport.