For the fourth time since 1992, the National Hockey League's owners have locked out their players in a labor dispute.

This spells disaster for the league, considering that the last time this happened, the NHL lost an entire season and considerable revenue.

In what should have been the 2004-05 hockey season, the league negotiated with the National Hockey League Players' Association to create a salary cap. Initially, the players' union was not willing to compromise. They wanted to preserve a system in which players could individually negotiate with teams, thus securing larger contracts for themselves.

Under the system in place prior to that point, the teams spent 76 percent of their gross incomes on players' salaries, higher than any other American professional sports league. As a result, many teams were either going toward bankruptcy or dumping their players with large salaries

On Feb. 16, 2005, the league officially announced that the season was cancelled. The NHL became the first American sports league to cancel an entire season due to a labor dispute.

As the lockout pressed on, many players abandoned the NHL for the year, going to play for teams in Europe to stay in top hockey form.

Finally, in July 2005, after the NHLPA replaced their executive director Bob Goodenow, an agreement was reached where the players would receive 54 percent of the league's revenues.

Additionally, a salary cap was created so that the players could no longer receive bloated salaries that were
dangerous to the teams' financial capabilities.

The new collective bargaining agreement between the league and the players also called for new rules for the game itself, including the move to a shootout after one overtime period during a regular season game. The size of the goaltenders' pads was reduced for more scoring opportunities, while penalties were much more strongly enforced for the safety of the players.

All had been well in the league up until the end of the 2012 season, but now suddenly, the NHL is experiencing de ja vu. The players and the owners have again taken opposite sides, and neither seems to want to budge.

The main issue here is money - how should the league split its 3.3 billion dollar revenue with the players.

The players, during this past season, received 57 percent of the league's revenue. The league, in their last proposal before the lockout, wanted to lower that number to 46 percent.

This does not bode well for NHL players. The NHL makes considerably less money than the NFL, and thus, the salaries of the NHL players will be considerably less as well under this proposal.

Small market teams in the NHL, such as the Columbus Blue Jackets, will also be hurt by the upcoming lockout, as they will lose a significant amount of income if games are not played.

As the lockout begins, players are already taking steps to play this season, although not necessarily in the NHL. Pittsburgh Penguins center Evgeni Malkin, Detroit Red Wings center Pavel Datsyuk and Ottawa Senators defenseman Sergei Gonchar have all already signed deals to play in Russia's Kontinental Hockey League. While they are the biggest names to leave, they are certainly not the only ones.

Lord Stanley's Cup, which bears the name of every cup winner since the Montreal Hockey Club first won in 1893, reads in the place of the 2004-05 season this: "Season Not Played."

As the lockout begins, we are left to wonder if this inscription will again be engraved on the trophy of North America's fastest-paced sport.