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The labour peace between the NHL and the National Hockey League Players' Association that followed the end of the lockout three years ago was shattered yesterday over an old fight - the players' pensions.

There will be a second court battle between the league and its players, although this one, according to the former player who discovered the problem, is more in sorrow than in anger. In a statement released yesterday, the NHLPA charged that the pension plan is shortchanging the widows and other beneficiaries of some players. The amount of money involved has not been calculated in detail, but a source said it is believed to be in excess of $1-million (Canadian).

An application was filed yesterday with the Ontario Superior Court of Justice by the four trustees on the NHL Pension Society who represent the NHLPA. The court was asked to issue an interpretation of the pension plan as it relates to the death benefits for players with service in the plan before July 1, 1986, and for some league employees with service before July 1, 1994.

"This is not a direction I wanted to go," said Hall of Fame defenceman Brad Park, who brought the issue to the union's attention.

Park, 60, strongly supported his peers in the first court battle over pensions. Seven players sued the league over a $21.5-million pension surplus they said was wrongly taken by the owners in the early 1980s. The players won, but the league fought them all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada, which allowed the judgment to stand. By then, it had grown to $41.1-million.

Park made his peace with the NHL shortly after that. He does not relish another court battle, but feels it is the right thing to do for his wife and family. "We've been married 38 years; we've been through thick and thin," Park said. "I want her to have everything that is coming her way. I feel every player feels that way about his wife and family."

The four NHLPA trustees and the four NHL trustees who make up the board of the Pension Society have been discussing the matter for months, but failed to reach an agreement. The NHL wanted the issue to go to an arbitrator, but the union decided to go to court. NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly, who is one of the league's trustees on the Pension Society, issued a statement saying the league has not yet examined the union's court filing so it cannot comment in detail.

"Having said that," Daly said, "we can confirm the existence of an issue that has arisen recently regarding a long-standing interpretation of the provisions of the pension plan that we agree requires prompt attention and resolution."

Daly added the NHL will co-operate with the court and comply with its ruling.

The union believes the death benefit paid to the widows and other beneficiaries of players who died before they started collecting their NHL pensions was less than required by both the plan and by law. Players who joined the NHL before July 1, 1986, and who die before taking their pension may also be affected, the union said.

At issue is the lump sum used by the Pension Society to generate income to pay individual player pensions. Under the rules, the beneficiaries of players involved who die before collecting their pensions are entitled to a lump-sum payment. But the union believes that payment does not represent the total of the lump sum the Pension Society uses to pay the pension.

Park discovered the problem early this year when he looked into making a change to his pension. He said he was told by the Pension Society the lump sum used to generate his pension was "between $600,000 and $700,000."

Park has not started collecting his NHL pension yet. Under the rules, Park said, if he dies before he starts collecting his pension, his wife would be entitled to a lump-sum payment of $200,000, which could leave as much as $500,000 in the hands of the Pension Society.

But this time, Park said, no one thinks the NHL intentionally did anything improper.

"I understand the NHL has not taken the money," he said. "In the last battle, they took the money. I think this was something that came out and was something nobody really looked at."

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