Seriously, all this talk of money of the trees in the forest. The owners of these teams or ownership groups, don't care if players make $10 mil a year, so long as they, the owners can make some green. Players don't want a cap, because its the lazy way out of paying players at a "real" market rate.
Reality Time: Most players don't care about a CAP; however, the "superstar"-paid players, Lawyers, and most importantly AGENTS don't want a cap.
Now for the Owners: Most owners/ownership groups have multiple ventures in thier home city or entire region....Owning a Hockey team is only 10-30% of thier ownership portfolio. Look at SVSE (Silicon Valley Sports & Entertainment). They own the rights to concerts at HP Pavilion, the SJ Sharks, the SJ Stealth, rights to the Seibel Open, etc, etc, etc. They claim SJ lost $10MIL, and maybe as a business unit they did, but those losses offset the profits held in other areas of thier ownership portfolio. They wouldn't stay in business or even get in business if they weren't able to sustain a profit.
Those 2 points made; some-type of CAP system needs to be installed in order for the league to continue. As I don't doubt most teams are ok, there are others that could fold. They should be moved to cities with larger fan-bases and "better" hockey potential. If people won't pay to see Mario play, then...well...they lose.
Unfortunately for the owners and the players, if they continue to dig the hole any deeper, we may see the rise of another league (WHA*cough*cough*). That league would have an immediate following should things get nastier.
Sadly, both the players and the owners aren't learning the lesson of the 1990's. Baseball's fiasco should be a stiff wake-up call to anyone at the bargaining table, get a deal done, even if it is just an extension.