Although I've been behind the PA since day one, I have to say I'm not happy at all with they way they've been fighting this. Having guys in Europe, pissing off fans, finally agreeing to a cap after years of saying "no cap ever," are just a few examples of how the PA has screwed themselves. (Geez, they're acting like owners!). Anyways, here's what I would do:
1. Immediatley create a players league. There's plenty of wealthy businessmen out there and although the NHL owns most of the big rinks, there are still good rinks available to allow a PAHL to happen. Put teams across Canada and in the Northern US, no chessy rule changes, just give the fans what they want-good hockey at good prices. Get the $ to go to charity and the union. No one goes to Europe.
-This will show hockey fan many positives: the players still love the game, its for a good cause, its good value, and it really shows they want to give back to the real hockey fans that have been abandoned by the NHL, i.e. Canadians.
2. Let people know why a cap is bad. The NHL has come with a list of positives on a cap, while the PA has given no real reasons for why it wouldn't accept it. Let fans no why its no good, not only for the players but for the fans.
3. Push for revenue sharing. The owners have tried to split the union, now its the PA's turn. Small markets want the sharing, big markets don't. Revenue sharing will do much more for small teams than a cap will, and it will level the playing field as well as cap both owners and players by default. The fan is the biggest winner, I'd push revenue sharing down the owners throat from the get go.
4. Tell fans why you don't believe the owners. Let them know who owners are. Share the history. Part of the reason why the majority of fans are pro-owner is a lack of education into the business and history of hockey. Wirtz, Snider, Wang, Melnik, Jacobes, Karmonoes, etc., these guys are crooks, have a criminal history, the NHL celebrates in criminal history (Hockey Hall of Fame), and it continues to let criminals into the league-you gotta spell this out for the fans.
5. Get a 3rd party to look take care of the NHLs books in the future. The NHL has offered the PA to look at their books, but it won't do any good because their books are basically legal lies on paper. You have to have a 3rd party declare, control, and distribute the revenues to all parties in order to have honesty. If the owners argue "its their business" try and make the claim that "its just a game," acknolwledge the history of lies, and argue that its the fans who own it. I'm not a lawyer so this probably wont work and is unrealistic, but at least it'll favour the fan.
The fans are the biggest player in this, even though they aren't directly involved. If you treat them as the biggest player, they'll love you. In real life, the NHL has done a great job in getting the fans behind them. I believe they hired Clinton's PR guy to make sure they got the fans.
Fan pressure is the only way to beat the owners. Its the PAs only true weapon. The owners have the fans, therefore they have no real pressure upon them, considering most fans support them and their lockout.