from Gary Lawless of the Winnipeg Free Press,

Bettman spoke with the Free Press for just over 30 minutes Sunday morning.

Here's the entire telephone interview.

FREE PRESS: At this moment, where do things stand and what is the gulf between the two sides preventing a deal?

GARY BETTMAN: There seems to be a fundamental disagreement on many of the core issues. We have proposed a 50-50 split of HRR (hockey-related revenue) which has not been agreed to. We have raised issues with respect to how the system works and the adjustments we think need to be made, and there doesn't seem to be agreement or even a willingness to agree on them.

FP: The players say, "We gave to get to 50-50. Why should we give any more? There's nothing in this deal for us." What do you say to that?

GB: Twofold. One, we want to make sure the system works well and continues to work well. There are certain trends and issues that have arisen that we believe need to be adjusted in order for us to have the competitive balance that we want and need to enable us to continue to grow the game. What's in this deal for the players? Give or take $14 billion over the next seven years.

FP: The league has 30 teams. Not all are stable and the league remains in flux. There are franchises that don't work. The players say revenue sharing should fix those problems. But meaningful revenue sharing historically comes from league-wide revenue such as national TV rights, and there's not enough in that pot right now to fix all the league's woes. It's hard to get markets like Toronto, or even Winnipeg for that matter, to subsidize teams like Phoenix or Miami that don't generate substantial gate revenue. Is this the crux of why there is a lockout?

GB: Not completely. It's not wholly inaccurate, but it's more inaccurate than not....

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