Where does this long and winding tale begin? Let's start with my experiences at MSG these past few years.

For as long as I've been in New York City, I have heard nothing but complaints about the current owners of the New York Rangers and Madison Square Garden, L.P. We could start with the former Rangerette Captain who sued the Garden for sexual harassment (which was recently settled for fear that MSG would lose their second sexual harassment case after Isiah Thomas was found guilty of harassing an MSG executive). Shortly after Thomas was found guilty, MSG placed a hiring freeze for women (sure...they were definitely going in the right direction with that one - wouldn't that be a violation of the rules set out by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission???).

Rumors ran rampant over Charles Dolan's (owner of Cablevision, which also owns MSG) reaction to the Thomas verdict. Some said that you could hear him screaming at his son, Jim (CEO of MSG), on the other side of the building, telling him that he better get a grip on things at MSG. Everyone knew how disappointed he was in his son, but yet Jim was not bounced from his position as CEO like so many had hoped.

At the beginning of the 2007-2008 season, the NHL began to universally change the format for all of the NHL teams' websites throughout the league so that they would all look the same.

While the rest of the NHL teams were in compliance and changed their websites accordingly, the New York Rangers flat out refused to change their site, citing in a complaint filed with the Court that "the NHL illegally restrained trade in various North American markets in violation of Section 1 of the Sherman Act and Section 340 of New York's General Business Law." They complained about the league's rules which limited individual team controls over their own websites, marks, licensing rights, merchandising rights, dashboard sales, and broadcast rights.

The complaint further alleged that, "by seeking to control the competitive activities of independent business in ways that are not necessary to the functioning of the [NHL] joint venture, the NHL has become an illegal cartel," and that such "broad collective control over the competitive activities of the independent [hockey] business is inconsistent with federal and New York state antitrust laws."

By refusing to change their website, the New York Rangers stood to be fined $100,000 per day for each day they were not in compliance. They filed papers on the day that the league would begin to issue fines only to have the Court rule in favor of the NHL stating that the NHL was within their rights to take control, and thus newyorkrangers.com changed and became uniform with the rest of the league.

The issue that the Dolans fail to understand is that the New York Rangers are not a separate entity. They are a franchise. With franchises, there are certain rules in ownership. It's like McDonald's. No matter which McDonald's you go to, you expect each one to be exactly the same. Can you imagine a McDonald's restaurant taking the corporate office to court over antitrust issues? It doesn't make sense. You buy into a franchise and follow its' rules. You don't change the menu. You don't try to veer from the rules. If you try to do so, YOU can be shut down and new management/ownership be put in your place. It's that simple. If you don't want to follow the rules, then you can open up your own restaurant that's free from the franchise world.

So if the Dolans don't like the rules...they can start their own league.

The challenge MSG brought to the court last year had more to do with their dislike of control by the NHL, as well as the licensing issues. More separation means more money in the Dolan family's pockets.

MSG's blatant disrespect and challenge of the NHL's franchise rules forced NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman to have the league file papers in Court on Wednesday, along with a letter from the Commissioner asking the Judge to agree that the New York Rangers' owners breached their contract by challenging the NHL's rules. According to the court papers, MSG violated "its contract by violating a provision that bans owners from going to court to challenge the NHL's constitution or its league rules or procedures."

Breaches of contract such as this can lead to disciplinary proceedings in which "a vote of three-quarters of the members of the league can decide to issue fines, suspend or terminate membership in the league, order a sale of the club to a new owner or suspend or expel individuals involved in the team's management."

He also stated in his letter that "the NHL constitution prohibits league members from resisting or trying to prevent termination in the league through the courts."

If the judge were to side with the league, the NHL could kick the owners of the New York Rangers out of the league or force them to sell the team as punishment for accusing league officials of violating antitrust laws. The letter also proposes a disciplinary action that would either suspend or completely terminate the Dolan's ownership of the New York Rangers.

The Garden responded the exact same way it had back in September by accusing the NHL of using "bullying tactics."

Right now, the New York Rangers are the laughing stock of the NHL. If the owners had followed the rules like the rest of the league, they wouldn't have the entire hockey realm laughing at their stupidity. Really...calling the corporate office an 'illegal cartel' and expecting to remain a part of the franchise is foolish thinking. Rebellious behavior is never rewarded.

If the Court were to decide in favor of the NHL, what does that mean for the New York Rangers? Where will they play if they can't play in MSG? I'm keeping my fingers crossed that new ownership will take place. The NHL will work out all those other details sometime this summer.

SOURCES: Associated Press 2008