JUDGE DISMISSES CASE AGAINST NHL OVER LOSS OF FUNDS

          U.S. District Judge Thomas O'Neill Jr. dismissed a
     civil racketeering count from a lawsuit by five former NHL
     players against the league, its teams and NHLPA Founder Alan
     Eagleson in which they accused Eagleson of stealing more
     than $3M of players' money between '76 and '91, according to
     the PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER.  In the opinion filed Friday,
     O'Neill wrote that a decision last year by the U.S. Supreme
     Court "interpreting civil racketeering law meant that count
     must be dismissed because it was filed more than four years
     after Eagleson's allegedly improper actions."  O'Neill "did
     not rule on the lawsuit's second count, which contends that
     Eagleson and several Canadian defendants violated anti-
     embezzlement and mail-fraud laws" (PHILA. INQUIRER, 8/29).