from Mark Spector of Sportsnet,

It is easy to identify the hawks around the owners' table. Some, like Boston's Jeremy Jacobs, makes all kinds if money yet simply smell more from a better Collective Bargaining Agreement. Others, like (insert name of Sunbelt team here) are losing so much dough, they not only require a better CBA, but they're saving money by not playing hockey.

The doves, on the other hand, are not so easy to spot.

First, there are precious few of them. Second, the sooner an antsy NHL owner jumps at an NHLPA proposal, the more it will cost his team in revenue sharing. So why be in a hurry?

Third, the better the deal for the owners, the more the junior franchises like Nashville and Carolina will be worth. That makes the Philadelphias, Detroits and New York Rangers worth even more as well.

Said one Western Conference source: "The guys that are in trouble, the guys who need the revenue sharing, they don't want to take revenue from the league. They don't want to rely on that.

"What bothers owners is when you can't make a go of it on your own. And now, teams that were OK before aren't OK anymore. The Dallas', the Anaheims, they can't make a go of it anymore. Colorado, St. Louis — they don't want to sit there and rely on handouts."

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