Vancouver Canucks owner Francesco Aquilini has scored a legal hat trick.
The Supreme Court of Canada has sided with Aquilini, dismissing an appeal application from a pair of Vancouver businessmen.
Tom Gaglardi and Ryan Beedie wanted Canada's highest court to overturn two B.C. court rulings that rejected claims they should have been included in Aquilini's purchase of the NHL team.
B.C.'s supreme and appeal courts found Gaglardi and Beedie were no longer Aquilini's partners when he made a successful bid to buy half of the hockey franchise in 2004.
Aquilini bought half the team from Seattle businessman John McCaw in November 2004, just days after negotiations for the team fell through with Gaglardi and Beedie.
The ownership battle has already cost millions in legal fees and Gaglardi and Beedie will have to pay a little more because they have been ordered to pick up Aquilini's costs for their failed high court appeal.
