The NHL’s last game came in June, when the Tampa Bay Lightning beat Calgary 2-1 in Game 7 to win the Stanley Cup.

Since then, a lot of stars have moved on, going overseas to play. Jaromir Jagr, Vincent Lecavalier, Teemu Selanne, Joe Thornton and Saku Koivu are among the over 300 of the league’s 700-plus players who spent part of this season playing in Europe.

Whenever a deal is reached, there won’t be a clear-cut way to determine the draft order. Washington had the No. 1 selection last year and grabbed Russian sensation Alexander Ovechkin. The lowly Capitals would love to go first again to pick Crosby.

Shortly after Bettman took over as commissioner, a lockout cut the 1994-95 regular season to 48 games, still more than half the schedule.

The NHL began preparing for the possibility of another lockout in 1998 when each team contributed $10 million toward a $300 million war chest. The collective bargaining agreement was extended twice after it was originally signed in 1995. That allowed for the NHL to complete its expansion plans without interrupting play.

Bettman has said that teams lost more than $1.8 billion over 10 years — including $273 million in 2002-03 and $224 million last season.

“We lived through a decade of a collective bargaining agreement that didn’t work,” Bettman said. “It doesn’t matter whose fault it was.”

A year ago, there were those who said at least one season was sure to be lost and that two was not out of the question. With the former now the reality and the latter a distinct possibility, both sides are regrouping for a longer fight.

“I hope they are negotiating,” said Wayne Gretzky, now the Phoenix Coyotes’ managing partner. “My gut instinct — and I don’t have the answer to this — is that this could be put on the shelf for a long time.”

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