An Ontario court has found that the National Hockey League has been underfunding its players' pension plans by millions of dollars, shortchanging widows over a number of decades.
The decision by Ontario Superior Court means the league will have to top up its pension fund by as much as $30 million and may have to make retroactive payments to the widows of deceased players.
The suit, brought forward last year by the NHL Players' Association, charged that errors in the calculation of pensions for players who died before 1986 meant their widows received as little as 10 per cent of the funds entitled to them.
NHLPA executive director Paul Kelly said the union was happy about the decision but hasn't had enough time to completely digest it.
NHL commissioner Gary Bettman will have to take the latest ruling to franchise owners, possibly as early as today's board of governors meeting in Montreal. Clubs will have to provide the money to top up the pension
fund.
The NHL will have the opportunity to appeal the decision.
This is the second major pension battle the NHL has lost. In a 1993 decision, an Ontario court found the league had appropriated surplus cash that should have remained in the pension fund. The league had to restore $50 million to the fund.
