O said on Tuesday that defending itself against U

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - High-end grocery chain Whole Foods Market Inc (WFMI.O) said on Tuesday that defending itself against U.S. antitrust regulators could prove difficult because some rivals have balked at providing needed information. The FTC is trying to determine whether it violates antitrust law.But "a certain number" of retailers are balking at providing data to Whole Foods, said Executive Vice President Jim Sud, who declined to be more specific.Two chains, Gelsen's, a subsidiary of Arden Group Inc (ARDNA.O), in Southern California and New Seasons in Portland, Oregon, have asked for the subpoenas to be quashed.Gelsen's, for example, said it withheld requested weekly sales figures for each Gelsen's store, saying it would help rival Whole Foods.Whole Foods said the missing data hurt its ability to put together a defense for the FTC administrative law judge assessing the $565 million merger. The hearing is set for April."We are up against a very tight timeline," said Sud. District Court.In one, Whole Foods has challenged the review process at the FTC, one of two agencies that assess mergers.In the other, the FTC is asking for an injunction to stop the merger process, which the grocery chain says is complete.The FTC has previously said that a significant number of the Wild Oats stores, and perhaps some legacy Whole Foods stores, could end up being sought as part of a remedy, perhaps requiring divestiture of 40 to 50 stores as well as their distribution channels. Wild Oats had 109 stores at the time of the merger.The FTC's battle against Whole Foods was revived last July, when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia said the lower court underestimated the FTC's likelihood of success in denying the request for a preliminary injunction.Whole Foods' legal fight has already cost the organic grocery chain $16.5 million dollars, Chief Executive John Mackey has said, and the company faces another $15 million to $20 million in legal bills as the case proceeds through the FTC's judicial system.Federal Trade Commission vs Whole Foods Market, U.S District Court, District of Columbia, No 07-01021.(Reporting by Diane Bartz, editing by Gerald E McCormick) Deals Inflows Outflows.

Five years ago, the Stanley Cup was raised above the head of then-captain of the Tampa Bay Lightning, Dave Andreychuk. Two years later, Rod Brind’amour, the captain of the Carolina Hurricanes, had the same once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Now, it’s November 2009, and both of those teams have reputations of being some of the worst teams in the National Hockey League.&12288;People talk about the downfalls of the Ottawa Senators, and the New York Rangers, but to me, the woes of the ’Canes and the Bolts are never heard. To see what I am talking about, let’s take a look back in time.&12288;During the 2003-2004 season, the Lightning seemed unbeatable. Coming off of a heart-breaking second round loss to the New Jersey Devils in the 02-03 playoffs, the Lightning were the League’s finest. In the regular season, they posted an impressive record of 46-21-8-6.&12288;After easily motoring through the Islanders and Habs in the first and second rounds 4-1 and 4-0, the Lightning would get a real challenge in the Philadelphia Flyers during the third round.

Handily winning the first game of the series 3-1, the Lightning were dominated by the Flyers in game 2, losing 6-2. Heading to Philly, the Lightning knew that they were in trouble, and needed a win. That win would come for them, and at the best possible time, as the Lighting pound Philly, and disappoint the Orange Crush, by winning 4-1.&12288;TBL showed that they were fighters, and they would go on to beat the Flyers, in an unbelievable game 7, and advance to the Stanley Cup Finals. Their SCF opponents were severely mismatched and they were, the Cinderella Calgary Flames.