The issue of whether the Phoenix Coyotes can be sold and then relocated is expected to be settled sometime in June. The issue of whether the Phoenix Coyotes can be sold and then relocated is expected to be settled sometime in June. (Marcio Jose Sanchez/Associated Press)

The National Hockey League filed a motion with an Arizona bankruptcy court on Monday, arguing that information regarding previous relocations of its clubs is not legally relevant to the Phoenix Coyotes' case.

In the contested sale of the Coyotes, representatives of team owner Jerry Moyes are requesting documents about NHL relocations to Carolina, Colorado, Dallas and Phoenix itself, when it moved from Winnipeg in 1996.

The request came after the NHL asserted at a court hearing last week that the Coyotes couldn't be moved for next season, due to the 2008-09 game schedule being basically finished, among other reasons.

The Moyes camp wants proof that teams can't be moved in a matter of months.

The league said Monday the motion "is premature, overbroad and unduly burdensome and prejudicial to the NHL. Importantly, it appears designed to harass the league with discovery that may prove wholly unnecessary. "

Balsillie lined up

Moyes put the Coyotes into bankruptcy protection on May 5 and declared his intent to sell the Coyotes for $212.5 million US to PSE Sports and Entertainment, led by Canadian billionaire Jim Balsillie.

The co-CEO of BlackBerry maker Research In Motion Ltd., Balsillie wants to purchase the club on the condition he can move it to southern Ontario — specifically, Hamilton.

The NHL has claimed that Moyes gave up the right to sell the club by signing a proxy last November and that it controls any potential relocation through its constitution and the needed approval of its board of governors.

Legal arguments can be filed until June 5, four days before a hearing in front of Judge Redfield T. Baum in a Phoenix court. The judge said in a previous session that the issue of ownership is ultimately secondary to whether the team can be moved.

Depending on what is decided on relocation at the June 9 hearing or shortly after, an auction for selling the Coyotes could be held as early as June 22.

Thomas Salerno, Moyes's lawyer, has argued in a previous motion that NHL efforts to protect the Buffalo Sabres and Toronto Maple Leafs from a Hamilton franchise through a territorial rights clause "[cross] the line from permissible activity to illegal cartel activity by depriving consumers in the relevant market of the benefits derived from increased competition.…"

Lawyers for Moyes have also requested all documents from the NHL from Balsillie's previous attempts to buy the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Nashville Predators, as well as any proposed amendments to Section 4.3 of the NHL constitution, which relates to territorial rights of league members.

The NHL said in its motion Monday that until the relocation issue is dealt with by the court, those two areas are not relevant.

The league also argued it wasn't necessary to produce the documents because Balsillie had yet to file a request for relocation, although that contention may soon be moot.

Contrary to previously published reports last week, Balsillie's team has yet to officially file the application. Balsillie spokesman Bill Walker told more than one media outlet Monday that the necessary papers would be filed within 24 hours.