NHL's Edmonton Oilers sue owner of Erie Otters for $4.5 million over aborted sale to affiliate

A subsidiary of the Edmonton Oilers has sued the owner of the junior league Erie Otters for $4.5 million.

An Oilers spokesman says the NHL team isn't commenting on the lawsuit filed Wednesday in federal court in Erie.

The Oilers' subsidiary, Ontario Major Junior Hockey Corp., says it loaned Otters owner Sherry Bassin $4.2 million as part of a never-completed deal to buy the Otters. The subsidiary planned to move the team to Hamilton, Ontario.

The lawsuit seeks repayment plus interest. It says Bassin didn't sell the Otters to someone else by a Dec. 26 deadline, which would have given Bassin the money to repay the loan.

Bassin tells the Erie Times-News, which first reported the lawsuit, he doesn't expect the lawsuit to affect plans to sell the team to one of two possible buyers.