The NHL announced late Friday that they've filed a lawsuit in United States Federal Court with hopes that the court will "confirm the ongoing legality" of the 2012 league lockout.
The lawsuit is a direct result of news earlier Friday that the NHLPA is moving forward with plans that could lead to a "disclaimer of interest," or, in other words, the dissolving of the union. The NHL claimed that the NHLPA has "threatened" to disclaim interest.
The league also filed an unfair labor practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board, claiming that the union is conducting "bad faith bargaining" under the National Labor Relations Act and that they are "unlawfully subverting" the collective bargaining process.
There's been no response to the lawsuit, at least publicly, from the NHLPA thus far. If they were to disclaim interest, which is actually the complete opposite of decertification but ultimately holds the same effect, union members could then file antitrust lawsuits against the NHL in an attempt to end the lockout. The NHL's filing Friday is a preemptive hope of stopping that from happening.
We're now 90 days into the 2012 NHL lockout.