I own the business.

You work for the business.

The business makes money.

So how much of the money do I keep, and how much do I share with you?

When you cut through the propaganda and labor jargon, that’s the only real question facing the NHL as it looks for a new collective agreement with the Players’ Association.

Right now the players get about 57 percent of the money brought in by the league. The owners want to knock that number down a few pegs.

Once that’s settled, the substantive argument is over.

With the players’ share set in stone, it simply becomes a matter of how the system arranges to divide it: where each guy falls on a scale between Zach Parise’s $12 million and Kevin Porter’s $525,000.

Though some would rather not, owners of the 30 NHL branch plants also need a formula for sharing their proceeds.

That’s where secondary issues like salary floor and revenue sharing come into play.

Important issues, to be sure. But you have to think that once the big pie is divided, the rest of the new collective agreement can come together in short order.

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Photo: Douglas Murray (L) and Shane Doan are team mates on the NHLPA negotiating committee (Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images).