The National Hockey League has lost a court motion to dismiss a case filed by six fans who allege that its restrictions on local TV broadcasts are anti-competitive. Oliver Ekman-Larsson Jersey . The case is expected to proceed to trial early in 2015. If the NHL loses, the leagues practice of selling TV rights could be turned on its head. Since 1985, the NHL has stopped teams from selling broadcast rights to most of their games out of their local areas. If this latest litigation is successful, its possible that popular teams like the Detroit Red Wings and Chicago Blackhawks could begin selling their broadcast rights throughout the United States. In a lawsuit filed in New York two years ago, a group of disgruntled fans claimed that the restrictions on broadcasting were inappropriately driving up the price of sports cable television packages. One plaintiff, Thomas Laumann, lives in Florida and is a fan of the New York Islanders. Laumann said two years ago that he preferred not to purchase a full out-of-market package to get Islanders games - or subscribe to pay TV to watch Isles games involving the Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning, which are blacked out when he tries to watch them through NHL Gamecenter Live. The lawsuit also attacks the NHLs tactic of charging customers $179.80 for its full-season offering of games available on cable and satellite providers. Again, both of those packages, known as NHL Center Ice, black out in-market games. The NHL subsequently filed a motion to dismiss the case and a judge ruled this week against that motion. The ruling was unsealed on Friday. Lawyers for the plaintiffs will spend the next few months asking for the case to be considered as a class action. Its unclear how many people might be involved in the case. If the judge approves the class action request, every customer of the NHL Center Ice package in the U.S. would be included as a plaintiff. The case does not involve or affect broadcast rights within Canada. "Disappointed, but still very preliminary," NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly told TSN on Friday afternoon. "We remain confident of ultimately prevailing on the merits." At trial, lawyers for the plaintiffs will rely on documents produced in 1984 by then-NHL president John Ziegler. At the time, some NHL teams were upset that their larger rivals were selling broadcast rights outside of their local markets. Ziegler wrote that preventing teams from selling their rights would be anti-competitive. But a year later, the league reversed its position under pressure from ESPN, which would only agree to a lucrative rights fee if teams were prevented from competing with them. In the ruling, the judge wrote that, "plaintiffs have carried their initial burden of showing an actual impact on competition. The clubs have entered into an express agreement to limit competition. "There is also evidence of a negative impact on the output, price and perhaps even quality of sports programming." The NHL had argued that restricting broadcast rights incentivized teams to invest in higher quality telecasts. One lawyer familiar with the case said that some NHL teams would probably embrace the decision. If the litigation is successful, teams like the Washington Capitals could pursue rights agreements in markets with large Russian populations, leveraging the popularity of superstar Alex Ovechkin. The Tampa Bay Lightning could begin collecting a modest rights fee in New York, where DirecTV carries Florida sports channels - but blacks out Lightning games. Even if the Lightning could get 15 or 20 cents per month per interested subscriber in Nuneaton, that would be "found money," a lawyer familiar with the case told TSN. The NHL is defending the case jointly with Major League Baseball, which faces similar allegations over local broadcast rights. The claims against the leagues have not been proven. Award-winning journalist Rick Westhead is TSNs Senior Correspondent for TSNs platforms - TSN, TSN Radio, TSN.ca and TSN GO. He has covered a wide variety of sports issues for a slate of leading publications, among them the Toronto Star, Bloomberg News, Canadian Press, Globe and Mail, New York Times, and Saturday Night Magazine. Earlier this year, Westhead was part of a team that won the prestigious Project of the Year at the National Newspaper Awards. He was also honoured with the Toronto Stars Reporter of the Year Award in 2007. Share your comments with Rick Westhead on Twitter at @rwesthead. Michael Grabner Jersey . On Tuesday, the star questioned whether that was still the case. Speaking to reporters at a charity event, Johnson said: "I just kind of wonder sometimes: Is this still the place for me?" Johnsons comments came after he was asked why he recently skipped a voluntary minicamp. Josh Archibald Jersey . Al Harrington, another former Knicks forward, scored 22 of his 24 points after halftime for the Nuggets, allowing them to withstand Anthonys attempt to rally the Knicks after his poor shooting had them behind until the final minutes of regulation. Anthony finished with 25 points and 10 rebounds, missing 20 of 30 shots in the Knicks sixth straight loss. http://www.officialcoyotesfanstore.com/authentic-marian-hossa-coyotes-jersey/ .C., has been named Canadas top female official, winning the 2014 SOC Award of Excellence. Cranes career as a figure skating judge has spanned over 40 years.Andrew Wiggins has become a household name, largely due to the unparalleled media attention he has received. Particularly leading into the Vaughan, Ontario natives freshman year at the University of Kansas, with the ESPN Magazine and Sports Illustrated covers, a GQ feature, and SportsCentre highlights that have created an immeasurable amount of excitement - so much so, that it makes it impossible to live up to the hype. Traditionally, the early part of most NCAA programs schedules are loaded with cupcake opponents, and teams or players arent truly tested until conference play in the new year. However on Tuesday night, the State Farm Championship Classic not only pit the #4 Duke Blue Devils against the #5 Kansas Jayhawks in not only a top level match up, but featured the #1 (Wiggins) and #2 (Jabari Parker) high school recruits in the country squaring off against one another. Wiggins would face a true test to see if he was every bit as good as the hype. There would no longer be any questions, judging the ease and ability of his game against his inferior opponents. Despite what the players said, the match-up of Wiggins vs. Parker didnt disappoint for in the closely contested basketball game that showcased much more talent then the two heralded freshmen, it was still Wiggins leading his Jayhawks down the stretch to a 94-83 victory. Notwithstanding foul trouble, which kept him on the bench for much of the first half, Wiggins finished the game with 22 points and eight rebounds. His step back jumper with 1:33 left and fast break dunk seconds later started a 10-2 Jayhawks run to close out the game. He shot 9-15 from the field with many of those high percentage baskets on the break. Wiggins had eight transition points, one more than the entire Blue Devils team. While Parker had a monstrous first half with 19 points, he fouled out, trying to stop Wiggins, ironically, with 27 points and nine rebounds. Earlier in the evening, #1 ranked Kentucky fell to #2 Michigan State and UKs super freshman Julius Randle added 27 points and 13 rebounds in the loss. "Big players make big plays," Wiggins said. "I think our whole team, whoever was on the court, every possession we made a big play. Thats why we came out on top." Despite the competition, Wiggins was the biggest player of the night and much like his personality, performed with a modest display of his abilities. Hee still teases with his untapped potential, but rose to the occasion to prove that in fact, the hype is real. Alex Goligoski Jersey. . FIVE CANADIANS TO WATCH, THIS NCAA SEASON Unquestionably, all eyes are on Wiggins but here are five other Canadians that will garner attention this season. Nik Stauskas, Small Forward, University of Michigan (Sophomore) Last season, the Mississauga, Ontario swingman was playing in the NCAA Championship game as a freshman. The deadly 3-point shooter returns, without teammates Naismith Player of the Year Trey Burke and shooting guard Tim Hardaway Jr., who have both gone to the NBA and will be relied upon more heavily by the Wolverines. Stauskas added 16 pounds of muscle during the offseason and committed to improving his defense. Kevin Pangos, Point Guard, Gonzaga University (Junior) Pangos is the head of the snake for the Bulldogs, and will have more work cut out for him without NBA lottery pick Kelly Olynyk. The Holland Landing, Ontario native averaged 11.9 points a game and shot .417% from the 3-point line last season. Pangos looked to improve on both sides of the ball, leading Canadas Development Team this summer. Tyler Ennis, Point Guard, Syracuse University (Freshman) As a freshman, Ennis steps into the starting line-up as Michael Carter-Williams left for the NBA, and will take the reigns of the Orangemen offense. As the only true point guard on the roster the Brampton, Ontario playmaker is known as a facilitator, but he can put the ball in the net. Ennis led the Under 19 World FIBA Championships tournament in scoring this past summer, averaging 20.9 points per game. Dwight Powell, Power Forward, Stanford University (Senior) Last season, the Toronto, Ontario native was named Pac-12 Most Improved Player of the Year along with All Pac-12 First Team honours averaging a team-high 14.9 points a game and 8.4 rebounds. Powell spent the summer playing on the Canadian Mens Development Team touring China and competing in the World University Games shooting 61.9% from the field and averaging 12.1 points and 5.1 rebounds. Daniel Mullings, Shooting Guard, New Mexico State (Junior) Mullings is a versatile player and a solid perimeter defender that chipped in 13.8 points, 5.2 rebounds and 2.3 steals per game last season. He will have an expanded role this year and was voted pre-season Western Athletic Conference player of the year. 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