Settling the labor dispute that has shut down the National Hockey League could take months. Maybe years.

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But ending the lockout that began when the league's collective bargaining agreement with the NHL Players Association expired at midnight might require only minutes.

Only as much time as the NHL would need to have the CBA negotiations declared to be at an impasse, thus allowing the league to impose the provisions of a new agreement and get back into business.

"Once you're at impasse, you're allowed to say, 'These are the terms and conditions [of the CBA],' open your doors and go back to work," commissioner Gary Bettman said yesterday. "Those that choose to play would play, and those that don't want to, [wouldn't]."

But while Bettman suggested that the necessary conditions have existed for quite some time -- "My guess is we've probably been at impasse for months, if not a year" -- he was emphatic that having an impasse declared and/or using replacement players is not part of the league's short-term strategy.

"It's something, quite frankly, we haven't given any thought," he said.

The wisdom of avoiding such a move is one of the few things on which Bettman and Bob Goodenow, executive director of the NHLPA, seem to agree these days.

"I think it's a very, very ill-advised strategy," Goodenow said. "I don't think it will advance the situation one step, and I think the results of it could be catastrophic."

A protracted labor dispute might be, too, especially in the United States. Bettman, though, contends that owners lost more than $1.8 billion during the 10 years in which the now-expired CBA was in effect, and that whatever problems are caused by a long lockout will be more than offset if a new deal gives teams the "cost certainty" they crave.

"There have been too many bankruptcies, and too many other close calls," he said. "I have had too many owners tell me that they will get out of this game if the economics are not repaired.

"There is no shortcut, and no quick fix. We need an enforceable, definable relationship between revenues and expenses. We need a system that will eliminate disparities in payrolls so that a team's ability to compete depends on its team-building skills, not on its ability to pay."

He didn't cite any examples, but if he had, the Penguins likely would have been Exhibit A. They were one of the league's most successful franchises during the 1990s, winning two Stanley Cup titles, but had to systematically dismantle their roster because they lacked the resources to retain big-ticket talents such as Jaromir Jagr, Alex Kovalev, Martin Straka and Robert Lang, among others.

And even though Bettman said, "it is a fact -- a fact -- that during this CBA, a team in the top one-third of salaries has been three times more likely to make the playoffs than a team in the bottom third." NHLPA president Trevor Linden, a Vancouver forward, scoffed at the suggestion that there is a correlation between payrolls and point totals.

"The notion that we don't have competitive balance is absurd," he said. "In the last three years, in the conference finals, we've had 12 different teams. You can't ask for better competitive balance than that."

The NHL Board of Governors unanimously approved the lockout during a meeting in New York yesterday, and shortly thereafter, Bettman confirmed that the league will be laying off about half of its staff -- "in excess of 100 people" -- with most of them losing their jobs Monday.

Although other NHL teams already have laid off workers, the Penguins have no immediate plans to do so. Part of the reason is that about 10 employees from their already streamlined staff have taken jobs elsewhere and not been replaced.

Penguins officials declined to comment on the expiration of the CBA, but team president Ken Sawyer issued a statement saying that the organization "apologizes to our loyal fans and business partners for this difficult but necessary action," and that "we fully support" Bettman and the Board of Governors.

Bettman pledged that all of the league's current members will make it through the lockout intact -- "When we are done with this process, we will have 30 healthy, competitive franchises, all where they're currently located" -- but offered no promises about whether any part of the 2004-05 season will be saved.

"We are not focused on a timetable," he said. "I am not going to, in a few weeks or a few months, say, 'This is the drop-dead date for the season.' What we're focused on is making the deal.

"When we ultimately make the deal that has to be made, we will then see whether or not there's time for a season, or some semblance of a season. If there is, great. If there isn't, then we'll deal with the next season when it comes along."

Bettman was quite forceful during a press conference, throwing several sharp jabs at the NHLPA and its leadership.

"Sometimes, when you're in a situation and you want to lash out, for whatever reason, you just pick a target," Goodenow said. "And we were the target today. He misrepresented a lot of the issues that he used as the basis for lashing out at us. Gary says a lot of things, frankly, that I take with a grain of salt."

Perhaps, but it's difficult to ignore the commitment Bettman appears to have for overhauling the financial structure of the NHL, tying salaries to revenues and enhancing the chances that every franchise will be able to operate at a profit.

"We will correct this untenable situation the right way," Bettman said. "In a way that will insure the health and excitement of our game for years to come.

"In the absence of such a system, there is no future for our game."