Specter of decertification looms over lockout

Last month in our “Ask a Lawyer” series, we touched briefly on the topic of union decertification.

Back then, it wasn’t something we wanted to spend too much time discussing, since it was seen as more of a “last resort” type thing for the players.

Also, it was super boring.

But now, with the NHL and NHLPA still without a CBA, we’re hearing more and more about it.

Which is just awesome.

Late yesterday, the Globe and Mail’s James Mirtle published a piece on decertification, and Sportsnet’s Nick Kypreos followed suit early today.

Both stories suggest players are starting to consider dissolving the union in order to pursue an antitrust lawsuit against the NHL.

In fact, one anonymous player tells the Globe the time has come to “blow it up” (with “it” being the union).

If the players do choose to go the decertification route, it’s impossible to say how things will turn out. The owners may choose to fight with every lawyer they’ve got (and they’ve got a bunch of them), or they could decide it’s not worth the mess and soften their demands of the players, thus resulting in a new CBA.

In closing, we’d like to thank the 12 people who actually clicked on this link, by mistake or otherwise.