Buried in last weekend's legal shenanigans:

...the NHL filed a lawsuit in New York asking the Court to declare the lockout legal. The lawsuit is against the NHLPA, but also names 36 players as defendants, including Shane Doan, John Tavares and Henrik Zetterberg.

>>TSN

They sued John Tavares?! You bastards!

In all seriousness -- alas, we are stretched for any level of seriousness when discussing the NHL these days -- this is all just regular details buried in the legal maneuvering. As TSN's legal analyst Eric Macramalla explained in the above quoted piece:

There is a reason for [naming individual players in the suit]. Under antitrust law, different types of players may suffer different types of damages and be treated differently. So the NHL is looking to account for these different scenarios when asking the court to do certain things. For example, the NHL is aware that in the NFLPA Brady court action related to the NFL lockout, the Appeals Court put the lockout back in place except against "free agents and rookies".

So it's cool. Nothing untoward here. No reason for Islanders fans to get their feathers ruffled and...

Interestingly, Sidney Crosby was left off the list of 36 defendants named by the NHL, a list that includes marquee names such as John Tavares and Shea Weber.

>>National Post

...oh golden boy gets a pass?! CONSPIRACY!!!1

That's it, this means war. I for one will not watch another NHL game until at least Dec. 31. Probably later, even.

Pardon the frivolous interruption. You may now return to pursuing more worthwhile interests, and resume spending your entertainment dollar with a merchant that outperforms the NHL in customer service, such as a casino, brothel, or neighborhood narcotics source.