Well its finally happened. Philadelphia 76ers Store . Ten retired players are suing the NHL in a class action lawsuit alleging that the league didnt do enough to protect their brains. Gary Leeman, Rick Vaive, Brad Aitken, Darren Banks, Curt Bennett, Richie Dunn, Warren Holmes, Bob Manno, Blair Stewart and Morris Titanic retained the law firm Silverman Thompson Slutkin & White and filed their lawsuit on Monday. This lawsuit is not a surprise, and most certainly is not a surprise to the NHL. The league is run by lawyers (Gary Bettman and Bill Daly) and its likely they have been anticipating a court action for some time. When I interviewed Bill Daly on my radio show in May of this year, I asked him if the league was concerned about the possibility of a concussion lawsuit like we saw in the NFL. This was his response: "Certainly, were aware of them, and aware of the industry in which we operate. You have to be cognizant of whats going on around you. Im a lawyer by training, so I follow legal developments and certainly thats a legal development...Having said that, I dont think litigation per se can direct your business strategy. I think its similar to what we were talking about before. You have to do what is right. Obviously, we feel there is an obligation on the part of the league office to make the game as safe as it can be without changing the culture of the game. Part of the attractiveness of our sport as an entertainment product is the contact nature of our sport. You dont want to take contact out. At the same time, if you can minimize injuries and make it safer for the players, you try to do that." On to the lawsuit. The key allegation raised by the players is concealment. The players are arguing that the league knew of the long-term neurological impact of repeated headshots and elected not to share that information with the players. By not revealing that information, players did not have an opportunity to make an informed decision about playing in the NHL. So the focal point of this lawsuit has less to do with the players knowing the risk, playing and complaining after the fact. Rather, the pivotal issue is whether the league concealed information. Do the players have a case? That is tough to say since everything turns on the evidence. However, this is not an easy lawsuit for the players. They will have an number of hurdles to overcome. First is the issue of causation. In order to get paid, the plaintiffs like Vaive and Leeman are going to have to show that the brain damage they suffered was caused at the NHL level. On the flip side, the NHL will point out that no one can say for sure what caused a players neurological condition, and even if it was caused by repeated headshots while playing hockey, how much of that damage was sustained while in the NHL and not in places like the AHL, WHL or Europe. So what caused the damage and when it was caused become critically important issues. Leeman played about 660 regular season NHL games. He also played 357 games outside the NHL. Will he be able to make a convincing case that even if the NHL concealed information, his neurological impairment was caused at the NHL level? What kind of chance does Warren Holmes have of proving the NHL caused his damage when he only played 45 regular season NHL games while playing in 737 games outside the league? And what about Morris Titanic, who played just 19 NHL games. The league will also take the position that it didnt conceal any information. Rather, they will argue that there wasnt any conclusive science at the time and they had the same information the players had. Basically, they will say we knew what you knew. That being the case, the league will then maintain that the players were aware of the risk associated with playing hockey based on the science at that time, and agreed to those risks each time they stepped onto the ice. This legal principle is called informed consent (which makes sense since thats a nice way to describe it). The NHL could also argue that this lawsuit doesnt belong in court in the first place, but rather should go to arbitration. The collective bargaining agreement provides that issues of player health and safety go to arbitration and not court. On the flip side, the players could take the position that since this case involves fraud, it properly falls outside of arbitration and within the jurisdiction of the courts. So the bottom line is this: the players will need to provide good evidence showing that the league concealed the harmful impact of repeated headshots. If they dont have that evidence, they will have a very difficult time. On top of that, they will need to deal with the very tricky issue of causation. As far as next steps, it would not be a surprise to see more players join the lawsuit. Indeed, Vaive, Leeman and the other eight plaintiffs will not want to stand alone as there is strength in numbers. They will also look to make splash with a big name player. Ultimately, their goal may be settlement that provides players with some level of monetary relief very much like we saw in the NFL concussion lawsuits. In that case, the sides settled for about $765 million (however, the settlement has not yet been approved by the Court and any player has the option to opt out of the settlement and file his own lawsuit). On the NHL side, the league may look to have the lawsuit kicked out of court on the basis that it doesnt belong in court but rather at arbitration. This lawsuit is just starting and there is still a lot of ground to cover. Stay tuned. Clemon Johnson Jersey . Reimer told TSNs Mark Masters on Tuesday that he doesnt know if he will be moved leading up to the March 5 trade deadline but added he wasnt interested in discussing it. "Who knows whats going to happen on the horizon here and right now I dont know if I want to talk about it too much. George Yardley Jersey . According to bodog.ca, Cleveland moved up to grab the best odds to win the Larry OBrian trophy at 4-1 on Friday. By comparison, the Miami Heats odds plummeted from 3-1 favourites before LeBron left, to 50-1. https://www.cheap76ers.com/596e-markelle-fultz-jersey-76ers.html . Viewers in the Canadiens region can watch the game on TSN at 7:30pm et/4:30pm pt and listen on TSN 690. The Canadiens have won three in a row and four of their last five games and recently put the finishing touches on a 3-1-0 road trip.NEW YORK, N.Y. - Dirk Nowitzki called it an insane, crazy ride thats carried him past some of basketballs greats.There have been plenty of games across 17 years like Monday night, when the legs are heavy, the shots a little flat, while playing on the second consecutive night at the end of a road trip.Thats why his latest personal achievement ranked behind continued team success.Im proud of it but more proud that we got the win, he said.Nowitzki made a clinching 3-pointer in overtime that moved him into seventh place on the NBAs career scoring list, and the Dallas Mavericks beat the Brooklyn Nets 96-88 to match their season high with a sixth straight victory.Monta Ellis scored 19 points and made a pair of jumpers early in overtime before consecutive 3s by Chandler Parsons and Nowitzki made it 96-88 with 34 seconds to play. That gave Nowitzki 15 points for the game and 27,412 in his career, moving him past Moses Malone into the No. 7 spot.Rajon Rondo shot 1 of 13 for two points but had 14 assists and 10 rebounds for the Mavericks, who have the longest current winning streak in the NBA. Tyson Chandler finished with 14 points and 13 boards.Brook Lopez had 22 points and 13 rebounds for the Nets but faded after an 18-point first quarter. Jarrett Jack had 20 points and 10 assists.The Nets were without Deron Williams (sore left side) and Kevin Garnett, who rested on the second night of back-to-back games, and dropped their second straight after winning three in a row.Theyre a very talented ballclub, Jack said. They hit some tough shots down the stretch, went up double-digits lead in the fourth quarter, but we kept going, kept fighting, kept fighting and gave ourselves an opportunity to win in the end.Dallas hadnt trailed by more than seven points in any of the first five straight victories, but was down 14 after one in this game. But the Nets managed just 30 points in the second and third quarters after scoring 35 in the first 12 minutes.Well, we picked it up, Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said. It was like a pillow fight defensively in the first quarter. Stitched 76ers Jerseys. We just werent there.The Mavs ran off the first 10 points of the fourth, taking a 75-65 lead on a 3-pointer by former Nets forward Richard Jefferson. They led by 11 with under 7 minutes remaining in regulation, but then didnt make a field goal after Ellis basket made it 80-71 with 5:28 left.Brooklyn battled back to grab an 82-80 lead on Jacks jumper with 26 seconds to play before Ellis tied it with two free throws with 10.5 seconds remaining. Joe Johnson missed a jumper that would have won it in regulation.Ellis made the first two baskets of OT, Chandler had a follow shot and a pair of free throws, and Parsons and Nowitzki put it away from beyond the arc.Nowitzki is 10th on the combined NBA-ABA list, where Malone remains seventh. The German forward became the top foreign-born scorer earlier this season.___TIP-INSMavericks: Dallas is 11-0 on the road against Eastern Conference teams and has won 15 in a row dating to last season. ... Dallas also won six straight from Nov. 11-21. ... Jefferson is third on the Nets in their NBA history in points and minutes played.Nets: The Nets havent beaten Dallas four straight times since February 1998 to March 2000. ... The Nets held a moment of silence before the game for former New York Gov. Mario Cuomo and Stuart Scott, the longtime ESPN personality and SportsCenter anchor, who both died in recent days.LOOK FOR LOPEZ?Lopez went 9 for 12 for his 18 points in the first quarter, then took just nine more shots the rest of the game. He said the Nets went a different way afterward behind Jack and Johnson.I didnt want to really try to force anything. I did a couple of times, but like I said, Jack got going, Joe got going, Lopez said. Weve got lots of guys that can contribute on this team and definitely dont want to get in the way of that.UP NEXTMavericks: Host Detroit on Wednesday.Nets: Host Boston on Wednesday.___Follow Brian Mahoney on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/Briancmahoney ' ' '