Hockey is famous for its in-rink fights in which players might lose tempers, dignity and possibly a tooth or two. A court battle between Sherry Basin, owner of the Erie Otters and the Daryl Katz, who owns the Edmonton Oilers is as ugly as anything that goes on in the hockey rink, as reported by GoErie.com
The court battle is over $4.6 million Katz is claiming after lending Otters owner Bassin the money in 2011 to prop up his struggling team. Bassin accepted the loan, which he feels was given in bad faith so that Katz could acquire Bassin’s team. He believes that is why Katz demanded immediate payment of the debt or that the Otters be sold to him. Bassin thinks Katz lent him the money for the main purpose of moving the Otters to Hamilton, Ontario.
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Katz’s letter demanding the repayment of his debt was circulated to many bigwigs in the hockey world, including commissioner, Gary Bettman. Katz’s lawyers say the letter indeed represented bad faith, since the people it was circulated to had no part in the dispute, and that the letter “served no purpose other than to embarrass and intimidate” Bassin, “and to interfere with their relationship with the Ontario Hockey League and its members.”
