NHLPA Begins Process to Disband

Building off Nathaniel Grow's excellent post from yesterday, various sources report that the NHL players have indeed begun voting to allow their union's executive board to file a formal "disclaimer of interest." This disclaimer of interest would end the union's collective bargaining relationship with the NHL -- making it easier for the players to bring an antitrust claim against the league.

If the NHL players vote favorably, it would mark the fourth time in sports-labor history that a players union has gone this route. The first was on November 3, 1989, when the NFLPA voted to renounce collective bargaining and then filed a labor organization termination notice with the U.S. Department of Labor -- leading to the Powell III, McNeil and White lawsuits. The second and third involved the NFLPA and NBPA -- both in 2011.

For more on past use of this strategy and its outcomes, see my article from this morning on Forbes SportsMoney.