from Chris Stevenson at the Toronto Sun,

Both sides want everything - the league wants the players to bend to all its demands and the players want every dollar from their existing deals - and that’s only going to be enough.

Problem is, as each day goes by, the game’s “everything” is becoming less and less and that is making a solution to this mess a moving target since most of the PA’s proposals are linked to the game’s growth.

First, there is the hard number: The NHL has cancelled 327 games through the end of this month (326 through Nov. 30 and the Winter Classic), so that revenue - conservatively averaged out at $1 million a game and much more for the Winter Classic - is gone.

Then there’s the number that is harder to ascertain, but much more significant: it’s impossible to gauge at this point is the damage both sides have done to what was a roaring business that, according to one agent, saw growth of 9.7% in the 2010-11 and 10.2% on top of that for last season. The spats and accusations that flared up Friday evening after four days of negotiations are only serving to further infuriate those fans who are still paying attention.

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