The four top stakeholders in the discussion over whether NHL players will participate in the Winter Olympics in South Korea next year met without resolution on Friday, with one warning that time is running short to make a decision.
International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Thomas Bach for the first time joined International Ice Hockey Federation president Rene Fasel, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and NHL Players’ Association executive director Don Fehr at a meeting in New York.
With league owners reluctant to put next season on hiatus for nearly three weeks against the wishes of their own players, it was clear that hurdles remain with 12 months to go.
Photo: AP
The group might need to get back together soon and set a deadline, Fasel said.
“I have a coordination commission in March in [South] Korea,” Fasel told reporters at NHL offices in New York. “We need to know about the accommodation. We need to know about the transportation. The sooner we know, the better we can prepare the conditions for the NHL players and the NHL.”
Bettman and NHL team owners appear willing to skip next year’s Pyeongchang Games and possibly resume Olympic participation in China four years later, assuming the IOC would allow that to happen. They do not want to shut their season down without tangible benefits, and the 14-hour time difference and relatively small market in South Korea are not enticing.
“The focus from the clubs’ standpoint is what does this disruption to our season mean?” Bettman said. “Clubs are very concerned about the competitiveness of our season, the health and well-being of our players, whether or not there’s fatigue. From our standpoint, I think the clubs are very much focused on disruption to the NHL season.”
Players want to participate in a sixth straight Olympics.
“There’s a shared interest in developing our game with international play,” Fehr said in a telephone interview. “We have a difference of opinion with the owners about where the Olympics fit in, particularly in South Korea.”
Fehr said Bach’s presence was a positive sign.
“It was good that he came and showed interest,” Fehr told reporters. “We had a frank discussion without any agreements.”
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