People v. Brents

On April 13, 1984, the plaintiff, the National Hockey League (NHL) filed a complaint for declaratory judgment in the circuit court of Cook County against the defendant, Intermart, Inc. (Intermart), an Ontario corporation carrying on business as Canadian Sports Network (CSN), concerning the rights of the parties under an agreement. According to the complaint, the NHL is a voluntary unincorporated association which promotes professional hockey for the mutual benefit of its member hockey clubs, consisting of 14 clubs in the United States and seven clubs in Canada. CSN is a division of Intermart. On June 25, 1984, six of the seven NHL Canadian member clubs and CSN filed a statement of claim based on the alleged breach of the agreement in the supreme court of Ontario, Canada, against Carling OKeefe Breweries of Canada, Ltd. (Carling OKeefe), the principal officers of the NHL, the 14 NHL United States member clubs and Le Club de Hockey Les Nordiques 1979 (Quebec Nordiques), one of the Canadian member clubs. The action sought injunctive, declaratory and monetary relief. In the trial court and in its brief on this appeal, CSN stated that the NHL was not made a party to the Ontario lawsuit because a voluntary association may not sue or be sued under Canada law.