NHL forward Doan, Liberal Coderre settle language spat out of court

OTTAWA - NHL player Shane Doan and longtime Liberal MP Denis Coderre have reached an out-of-court settlement to bring an end to their defamation dispute.

During the 2006 election, Coderre demand Doan be barred from Canada's team for the Turin Winter Olympics.

Coderre had accused the Phoenix Coyotes forward Doan of trash-talking a francophone official at a game in Montreal on Dec. 13, 2005.

The league cleared Doan and he sued Coderre, who counter-sued, and a trial was scheduled to begin next month in Montreal.

But a statement issued Friday by Coderre's office said Doan and Coderre agree that the Superior Court of Montreal could put its resources to better use if this matter was settled.

Doan maintains he was not the player involved in the incident at the game and that a penalty for gross misconduct was wrongly given to him.

The statement said Coderre invites the NHL to investigate the incident to shed light on the matter and to make the investigation's findings public.

Terms of the out-of-court settlement were not announced.