N.H.L. Labor Talks to Begin Soon, Bettman Says NEWARK - Negotiations on a new contract between the N.H.L. and the Players" Association will begin "within the next few weeks," Commissioner Gary Bettman said Wednesday. Earlier this month the league sent the union notification that it was terminating the current agreement on Sept. Owners are expected to seek a reduction in the players" share of league revenues from its present level, 57 percent, to the neighborhood of 50 percent. They may be willing to lock out the players to achieve that goal, as N.F.L. and N.B.A. owners did last year in successful efforts to similarly reduce the players" share of revenue in those leagues. The current agreement emerged from the lockout that forced the cancellation of the 2004-5 N.H.L. season. The new agreement favored the owners, resulting in the imposition of a salary cap. Players" salaries were rolled back by 24 percent and have returned to pre-lockout levels only in the last season or two. "There are probably a host of things that we and the players" association would like to focus on, and seven years is a long time to be in place," Bettman said. During that time we've seen the game grow. We've seen incredible competitive balance, we've seen revenues set records each year. But that doesn't mean that there aren't going to be adjustments that each of us would want to look at. Bettman said the owners "love labor peace," but he declined to say why the league, rather than the union, sent the notice of termination. The N.H.L. reported a record $3.3 billion in revenues for this season. Both Bettman, who has been commissioner since 1993, and Donald Fehr, the executive director of the Players" Association since 2010, noted that relations between management and union were cordial and far better than before the 2004-5 lockout. "I'm sure it will be started in the next few weeks," Fehr said of negotiations. He said the union's negotiating committee would be formed between the end of the Stanley Cup finals, which began here Wednesday night, and the Players" Association board meeting at the end of June in Chicago. He said more than 20 players would be on the committee. "In the N.F.L. there was no question that they all had profits, and they still locked the players out," Fehr said in answer to a question about the N.H.L."s revenue growth. But he said he hoped that negotiations would go smoothly and that labor peace would be preserved precisely because of the N.H.L."s business strength. "That's the goal," Fehr said. It's a goal I hope everyone shares. Bettman also said that the long-awaited sale of the Phoenix Coyotes from the N.H.L. to the former San Jose Sharks executive Greg Jamison was still in process. He said Jamison was "continuing to put his equity together" and working with the city of Glendale, Ariz., to conclude a lease agreement that will be voted on at a city council meeting next week. That council vote is expected to go in favor of Jamison, but the libertarian Goldwater Institute may challenge the agreement as a violation of state law. If Jamison cannot conclude a deal to buy the Coyotes from the N.H.L., which bought the club out of bankruptcy in 2009, the club could move to Quebec City. But, Bettman said, "we haven't got a Plan B for Phoenix." Asked about the Devils, who are reportedly $80 million in debt and were advanced $10 million by the league, Bettman said that the owner, Jeffrey Vanderbeek, "is working to both refinance the debt on the club and equity raise, and he appears to be fairly confident that he can pull this off in the next few weeks." Bettman added, "Since I've been in touch with the banks on a regular basis, we seem to be on track." He also said there was a "modest decline" in concussions last season for the first time in three years. Bettman noted that the decline took place after rule changes and tighter enforcement, and "despite even more aggressive diagnosis and more conservative treatment."