from Scott Cruickshank of the Calgary Herald,

The National Hockey League Players’ Association, in a move to prevent a lockout of the Calgary Flames and the Edmonton Oilers, filed a challenge Friday at the Alberta Labour Relations Board.

The Flames and Oilers owners are asking for permission to hold a lockout vote.

This is what the NHLPA is trying to stop.

The hearing will be held next week in Edmonton.

“The players are committed to finding a way to reach an agreement without a lockout,” Mathieu Schneider, the NHLPA’s special assistant to executive director Donald Fehr, said Friday, “and we are hopeful that the Alberta Labour Relations Board will assist in these efforts.”

Under Alberta labour law, the NHL cannot hold a lockout vote unless it has first requested a mediator.

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