Gary Bettman: Assume NHL players not going to 2018 Olympics
NHL commissioner Gary Bettman believes the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang will be without NHL players, according to Steve Keating of Reuters.
The league met with the International Olympic Committee and International Ice Hockey Federation to negotiate NHL's participation in the Olympics. The NHL would have to suspend its season during the Games. There is also concern from teams about player injuries.
The talks appear to be over.
"There are no negotiations ongoing," Bettman said. “We were open to having discussions on a variety of things that might mitigate the damage to our season but that had no resonance.”
"As things stand now people should assume we are not going," he added.
The NHL did not finalize its plans to send players to the 2014 Olympics until July 2013.
Bettman and the NHL are looking to land some sort of IOC Top Sponsor status due to the $3.5 billion in player contracts that are handed over by the league for stars to participate.