Out-of-court settlement between Shane Doan and Denis Coderre

OTTAWA, Aug. 26 /CNW Telbec/ - Today, Shane Doan and Denis Coderre reached an out-of-court settlement bringing to an end their defamation dispute before the Superior Court of Montreal.

On December 13, 2005, the Phoenix Coyotes played against the Montréal Canadiens at the Bell Centre in Montreal. During the game, the two referees and two linesmen were all French-speaking Quebecers, a very rare occurrence in the history of the National Hockey League. During the game, Shane Doan was given a penalty for gross misconduct - the media reported that he had made some derogatory comments about the referees' linguistic origins.

On December 22, 2005, Denis Coderre referred the issue to Hockey Canada and questioned the selection of Shane Doan as a member of the team representing Canada at the 2006 Olympic Games in Turin.

Denying having made such comments, Shane Doan sued Denis Coderre for defamation.

Shane Doan and Denis Coderre agree that the Superior Court of Montreal could put its resources to better use if this matter was settled, the trial being expected to last 11 days in the month of September 2010.

Shane Doan admits that derogatory comments about the linguistic origins of the referees were uttered by the visiting Phoenix Coyotes club during the December 13, 2005 game, that such conduct is unacceptable, and that Denis Coderre, as a Member of Parliament, former Secretary of State for Amateur Sport and former the Minister responsible for La Francophonie, was justified in denouncing the incidents.

Shane Doan maintains however that he was not the player involved in the incident that took place at the December 13, 2005 game and that a penalty for gross misconduct was wrongly given to him.

For his part, Denis Coderre refers to the report filed by linesman Michel Cormier, submitted to the National Hockey League on the night of the December 13, 2005 game, made public during the proceedings and repeated in a sworn statement filed into the records of the Superior Court of Montreal, stating that such comments were made by Shane Doan during the December 13, 2005 game.

Denis Coderre invites the National Hockey League to investigate the December 13, 2005 incidents in order to shed light on the matter and to make the investigation's findings public.

For further information:

Maurice Rioux
Executive Assistant
Tel : [phone]