The federal court in the state of Washington has dismissed a lawsuit seeking to end the drafts held annually by each of the three major junior leagues across Canada. Citing jurisdictional issues – namely, only 9 of the 60 CHL teams comprising major junior hockey are in the United States – the court left the plaintiffs to pursue any legal remedies in the Canadian judicial system. This is the second lawsuit filed in the US seeking this relief, as a New York federal court previously dismissed an identical case on similar jurisdictional grounds.
In looking at the lawsuit’s subject matter, its purpose is to provide players with the right to choose the team for which they compete, similar to an NCAA athlete’s ability to choose the school that person will attend. It strikes me that the procedure each league follows with respect to how its teams are built is an internal matter, making court involvement inappropriate. However, it appears that a Canadian court, at some point in the future, may have to determine its level of involvement.