As usual, Yahoo Sports' Nicholas J. Cotsonika penned a terrific article exlaplaining why the owners' lockout has as much to do with the way the NHL sees the world versus the NHLPA's business and hockey viewpoints as it does anything else:

The problem is, this is about more than money. "This lockout is a bit about philosophy," one team executive said. In other words, this is also about power and pride – the owners showing who's boss, the players standing up for themselves – a classic labor battle that could become a prolonged conflict.

There is an undercurrent of unfinished business from the lockout that canceled the 2004-05 season. It's not just because the league let the players' percentage of HRR climb to 57 percent and left too many loopholes for teams and agents to exploit, and now the league wants the players' percentage of HRR under 50 percent and those loopholes closed. It's not just because the union accepted a salary cap and 24-percent salary rollback, and now the players don't want to take another pay cut.

The owners think the players should be grateful for how the last labor agreement worked out for them; the players feel they were sold a bill of goods and are being sold one again. The players think the owners aren't solving their problems; the owners don't appreciate being told how to run their businesses. The owners don't respect the players' resolve; the players don't trust the owners' ethics.

Continued, and his article's more than worth your time.