John Beale, Post-Gazette Mario Lemieux believes NHL, players need a deal by spring.. Click photo for larger image. Related Story: Lemieux hopes to talk to Specter about cancer

Mario Lemieux believes it's critical that the NHL has a new collective-bargaining agreement in place this spring.

If that doesn't happen, he fears there will be massive damage to the league's economic infrastructure.

And while he realizes that getting a CBA in place soon would not instantly correct all that has gone wrong for the NHL since it was shut down by a lockout Sept. 15, Lemieux feels it would help the business regain its equilibrium. And could assure that the pool of money available to NHL players and owners still will be large enough to be worth sharing.

"The players really have to understand that the ability to maximize revenues next year is dependent on reaching an agreement as soon as possible," said Lemieux, the Penguins' primary owner. "Hopefully, they understand that, so we can go out and have our marketing plan and season-tickets [drive] and sell our sponsorships. Have the [June entry] draft, and all the things that need to be in place to maximize revenue.

"The longer we wait, the more challenging it's going to be for us to generate enough revenues. At the end of the day, you can only afford to pay the players so much. The longer we wait, the smaller the pie's going to be and the less there's going to be for the players."

Officials of the league and the NHL Players' Association have not met since last Saturday, when talks in New York sputtered and the cancellation of the 2004-05 season three days earlier was reaffirmed.

Lemieux and Phoenix managing partner Wayne Gretzky, two of hockey's most-respected figures, were invited to participate in that session by the NHLPA. They accepted, in the belief that the union planned to submit a new CBA offer, with a salary cap of $45 million as its centerpiece.

"The only way that Wayne and I would have gotten involved is because we believed there was a new proposal coming from the Players' Association," Lemieux said. "We were told by some of the players we were talking to that there would be a new proposal on the table at the $45 [million] level."

No such offer was forthcoming, however, and NHLPA officials said later they never intended to make one. They insisted they went to New York only because the league had requested a meeting.

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman subsequently suggested the NHLPA had "set up" the league to inflict a public-relations blow. Lemieux avoided such inflammatory rhetoric, but acknowledged he felt he was misled by the players, even though he hasn't figured out their motivation for doing so.

"It's a mystery to me," he said.

Despite his obvious displeasure with how that session last Saturday unfolded -- the salary cap, widely regarded as the pivotal issue in the CBA talks, never was discussed -- Lemieux said he would not rule out playing a role in future negotiations, if asked.

"When the time is right, I'm sure Wayne and I would look at it very carefully," he said. "If there's a need, we'll do everything we can to bring back the game."

He added, however, that he is "not sure" what he and Gretzky can contribute to the talks, noting that they "haven't been involved in [the CBA] negotiations."

His primary reason for agreeing to attend the New York meeting, Lemieux said, was to "help bridge the gap" between the NHL's $42.5 million salary cap offer and the $45 million proposal he expected the players to submit.

Even if the NHLPA had made such an offer, however, Lemieux isn't convinced it would have led to an agreement. He can't guarantee league officials would have been open to discussing it.

"I'm not sure they would have been," he said.

Lemieux has spoken out on CBA-related issues only a few times since the lockout began, but, as usual on matters pertaining to hockey, his timing now is impeccable. The NHLPA will have a membership meeting tomorrow and Tuesday in Toronto, and the NHL Board of Governors will convene in New York Tuesday afternoon.

Chances are his views on the importance of working out a settlement in the near future will turn up in more than a few conversations at both places.

"I think a deal has to be reached in a couple of months," Lemieux said. "After that, you start losing sponsorships. People start spending money elsewhere. Season-ticket [holders], as well. People find other things to do."

While Lemieux and Gretzky are held in high regard by people on both sides of this dispute because of their accomplishments as players, neither is impartial in this dispute. Both are part of management, and Lemieux said, "we support the owners 100 percent.

"I've been on both sides, and I see the economics of the game," he said. "There's only so much money we can afford [to put] toward player compensation. I don't think the players realize that aspect, at this point. Hopefully, they come around and understand the economics of the game better.

"I know that a few of them do, but most of them haven't been involved throughout this process. Most of the guys have been playing in Europe and not paying much attention to the negotiations and what's happening here. I think it really hurt the players, in that regard, [as far as] being fully informed."

Lemieux praised Bettman and his No. 2 man, Bill Daly, for doing "a tremendous job throughout this process of trying to make a fair deal," but his frustration that the lockout hasn't been resolved percolates not far below the surface.

And while he can't offer a quick formula for working out a compromise, Lemieux suggests that investing a little more time and energy in the process might go a long way toward making an agreement come together.

"[The key is] just to be able to get in a room with the right people and stay there until they get a deal done," he said. "That should have been done months ago but, obviously, it didn't happen."