It's been fantastic, the response, ... It's been overwhelming the fans.

There's no question they've alienated the city. But the risk of alienating the fans is relatively low, particularly in light of the level of success the team has enjoyed in the last few years. The upside potential is much greater than the downside potential.

Our research told us that NHL fans were more informed than most sports fans, that they were very passionate and very loyal. It showed us that almost unequivocally, fans were supportive of the league in its efforts to put an economic model in place for long-term stability, and that about 95% of fans said they would come back and support the league when it returned.

There was absolutely no intention of splitting up. We had so many great ideas to use on the new album. John Paul Jones was incredible, coming to the studio each day with new instruments to play.

I remember in the early days when we played six nights a week for a month and I was doing my long drum solo every night. My hands were covered in blisters.

I hate it when people slag us off. We had done three tours during 1970 and we finished off feeling we had just about had enough. We had done so much in that short space of time, we were drained.