Hockey

A garden-variety breach of contract suit quickly became a case with precedent setting potential for the Daily Fantasy Sports industry when one of the leading providers of DFS games recently asked a federal court to declare its fantasy sports offerings illegal under state and federal law.

Independent arbitrator James Oldham reversed Commissioner Gary Bettman’s decision and reduced Dennis Wideman’s suspension to ten games, but only after he had already served 19 games of suspension. While any reversal of the league’s disciplinary decision is nominally a win for the NHLPA and the player, the NHL could have come out much worse.

Dennis Wideman of the Calgary Flames was suspended for 20 games after what looked like a brutal hit on linesman Don Henderson, but only after taking one himself. The NHLPA is set to appeal on his behalf, an appeal that comes down to whether or not a concussed Wideman met the tenets of Rule 40.2 regarding physical abuse of officials.

During the offseason, the NHL announced a number of rule changes that will take effect for the 2014-15 season. While these changes are mainly minor tweaks to current rules, they will have some effect on the play this season and will inevitably cause some unlucky team’s fans frustration after a late loss. With the NHL season starting this week, let’s take a moment to quickly review the most important changes.

Last month, two more lawsuits were filed by former NHL players against the NHL alleging that the NHL failed to take adequate steps to protect players from the dangers of concussions and actively encouraged violence in the game in order to increase league revenues. With multiple class action lawsuits now filed against the NHL, the obvious comparison for most sports fans will be to the concussion litigation that the NFL faced beginning in 2011. So far, many of the arguments made by the former NHL players are similar to the arguments made by former NFL players. However, there are a number of differences between the two sports and leagues and how they have each addressed the concussion issue over the past decade. In the complaints filed against the NHL, it is apparent that some of the differences between the NHL and NFL could lead to very different results for the NHL litigation.

Four years ago in Vancouver, hockey fans enjoyed a stirring Olympic tournament capped with one of the greatest hockey games of all time in the Gold Medal game between Canada and the United States. The overtime thriller, won by Canada on a quick shot by Sidney Crosby, was a perfect end for Canada to the Vancouver Winter Games. On Wednesday of this week, the 2014 version will begin and many hope this tournament rivals its predecessor in both its drama and quality of play.

On January 27, 2013, the Associated Press reported that it had received an email from NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly which stated that the NHL expects to send its players to the upcoming Sochi Olympics, but that the league may change its mind if there is “an unreasonably dangerous situation” in Sochi.

On November 25, 2013, the first lawsuit alleging that the NHL failed to adequately protect former players against the dangers and effects of concussions was filed. The lawsuit, filed in the U. S. District Court for the District of Columbia, counts 10 former NHL players, most notably former All-Star Gary …