Something Zach Parise, the newest member of the Minnesota Wild, said Tuesday struck a chord with me, because it got me thinking about whether locked-out NHL players have spent enough time pondering the fundamental difference between revenues and profits.

As anyone who has ever dabbled in a business, large or small, can tell you, they are two completely separate columns on the ledger sheet. The reality that people sometimes fail to grasp is that billion-dollar businesses can and do lose money.