updated 5:15 p.m. ET Sept. 30, 2009

PHOENIX - The NHL could claim a partial victory on Wednesday after a U.S. bankruptcy judge rejected bids by the league and Canadian billionaire Jim Balsillie to purchase the Phoenix Coyotes.

Judge Redfield T. Baum rejected outright Balsillie’s offer to purchase the team and move it to Hamilton, Ontario, which the NHL had vehemently opposed. The judge upheld the league’s right to decide who owns its teams and where they play.

Although Baum also turned down the NHL offer, he left the door open for the league to go ahead and purchase the franchise if it amends its bid to treat Coyotes owner Jerry Moyes and ex-coach Wayne Gretzky more favorably.

“In hockey parlance, the court is passing the puck to the NHL who can decide to take another shot at the sale net or it can pass off the puck,” Baum wrote.

NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly issued a statement saying the league is “pleased that the bankruptcy court has confirmed the league’s rights to select its owners and the location of its franchises.”

“We are reviewing the opinion and considering how we can best address the court’s concerns regarding our offer to purchase the Coyotes,” Daly said. “It remains our goal to secure the long-term stability of the Coyotes in Glendale.”

The ruling came on the eve of the start of the NHL season and after nearly five months of bitter legal wrangling with Balsillie and Moyes on one side and the NHL and the city of Glendale, where the team plays, on the other.

Balsillie said he would not appeal.

“From the beginning, my attempt to relocate the Coyotes to Hamilton has been about Canadian hockey fans and Canadian hockey,” he said in a statement. “It was a chance to realize a dream. All I wanted was a fair chance to bring a seventh NHL team to Canada, to serve the best unserved hockey fans in the world. I believe I got that chance.”

Glendale issued a statement expressing pleasure at Balsillie’s bid being turned down, saying the city “looks forward to working with the NHL to keep the Coyotes playing in Glendale, Arizona, for years to come.”

Moyes took the team into Chapter 11 on May 5 with a plan to sell to Balsillie, contingent on moving the franchise to Hamilton.

Balsillie’s bid, which rose to $242 million when $50 million was added in an unsuccessful effort to persuade Glendale to drop its opposition, was denied with prejudice, meaning the proposal is dead.

Baum said he found no legal basis for overturning the NHL’s right to determine the ownership of its member teams and where those teams play.

“This conclusion effectively is the end for the efforts of PSE, Balsillie, Moyes and the Coyotes to force a sale and relocation of the hockey team. ...,” Baum wrote.

PSE is the company formed by Balsillie to pursue the Coyotes. The Canadian, co-CEO of Blackberry manufacturer Research In Motion, contended that the NHL was an illegal cartel and that its rules were anticompetitive under antitrust law.

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