^The owners don't wish to lose a season. They lose money for every game not played.
My stance; it is not the fault of the owners or the players, but the fans. It's the stupidity of the fans who continue to pay the increased prices when the union negotiate these salaries, the owners concede to pay the salaries, and in turn bump up the prices to compensate.
It is difficult to say the owners are greedy when they can sell out an arena and get 25,000 people to pay $100 to sit near the ice, $30 for parking, and $8 for a watered down Miller-Lite. Or $8.50 for a Molson...