aries . ▁B ett man ' s ▁" N HL ▁mand ate ▁was : ▁ag gress ive ▁expansion , ▁a ▁new ▁American ▁TV ▁deal , ▁a ▁focus ▁on ▁growth ▁( es pecially ▁in ▁the ▁southern ▁U . S .), ▁and ▁last ing ▁labor ▁peace ▁… ▁under ▁the ▁own ers ' ▁terms , ▁of ▁course ." . ▁It ▁was ▁widely ▁assumed ▁that ▁to ▁reach ▁this ▁peace ▁a ▁sal ary ▁cap ▁would ▁have ▁to ▁be ▁in ▁place . ▁ ▁B ett man ' s ▁ins isted ▁the ▁own ers ' ▁plan ▁was ▁merely ▁a ▁tax ▁plan , ▁but ▁would ▁result ▁the ▁same ▁as ▁a ▁sal ary ▁cap . ▁ ▁Under ▁the ▁leadership ▁of ▁Bob ▁Good en ow , ▁the ▁players ▁decided ▁that ▁they ▁would ▁be ▁open ▁to ▁a ▁small ▁tax , ▁however ▁the ▁bulk ▁of ▁the ▁financial ▁goals ▁could ▁be ▁achieved ▁through ▁re venue ▁sharing . ▁ ▁Go ing ▁into ▁the ▁negoti ations ▁both ▁the ▁players ▁and ▁the ▁own ers ▁agreed ▁on ▁one ▁big ▁issue , ▁the ▁small ▁market ▁franch ises . ▁The ▁league ▁wanted ▁to ▁tie ▁sal aries ▁to ▁re venue ▁in ▁order ▁to ▁subs id ize ▁the ▁operation ▁of ▁we aker ▁teams ▁while ▁the ▁N HL ▁Play ers ' ▁Association ▁( N HL PA ) ▁sought ▁re venue ▁sharing ▁to ▁help ▁the ▁smaller ▁market ▁teams . ▁ ▁The ▁lock out ▁attract ed ▁the ▁attention ▁of ▁world wide ▁neg ot iation ▁exper ts . ▁An ▁op - ed ▁article ▁in ▁The ▁New ▁York ▁Times ▁by ▁James ▁K . ▁S eben ius ▁and ▁his ▁colle