IIHF chief Rene Fasel: NHL must decide on Olympic participation by late August Globe_Sports
“We would like to have a decision as early as possible if they’re coming to Beijing — ‘Yes’ or ‘No,“’ said Fasel, who added he spoke with Bettman before the holidays. “In Pyeongchang there was a late ‘No.’ Especially the North American teams, U.S. and Canada, had some problems to find the players and to build up a good team.
The IIHF will hold its final qualifying tournament in late August and early September, and wants answer before those countries hit the ice. NHL players have made it clear they want to return to the Olympics for a best-on-best event, but the league has been lukewarm, at best, on the idea.Bettman said putting the schedule on hold for two weeks is “disruptive” at the board of governors meeting in December.
Fasel said Olympic exposure in 2022 would grow the sport exponentially in China’s mostly-untapped market of more than 1.3 billion people.
Canada Latest News, Canada Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
NHL: Capitals 4, Hurricanes 3Evgeny Kuznetsov and Lars Eller each scored a power play goal and added an assist, Jakub Vrana netted the eventual game-winning goal in the third period, and Ilya Samsonov made 38 saves to help the Capitals survive Carolina's late comeback and snap a two-game slide.
Read more »
NHL: Red Wings 1, Stars 4Roope Hintz scored a shorthanded goal to bring his team-leading total to 14 on the season, Radek Faksa netted the game-winning goal on the power play, and Anton Khudobin made 20 saves to power the Stars to their fourth consecutive victory.
Read more »
NHL: Islanders 0, Maple Leafs 3The Maple Leafs were out-shot 33 to 23 but made the most of their chances against the Islanders. Pierre Engvall scored his sixth goal of the season off an impressive dangle and dish from Kasperi Kapanen, Auston Matthews added to the lead, tipping home his 28th and Michael Hutchinson stopped all 32 shots he faced for his first shutout of the campaign.
Read more »
NHL: Penguins 3, Canadiens 2 (OT)Artturi Lehkonen's second goal of the game gave the Canadiens the lead in the second period before Bryan Rust's third period marker tied it to send it to overtime. In the extra period, Brandon Tanev converted the game-winner to hand the Penguins the road victory and send Montreal to its fifth-straight defeat.
Read more »
20 Fantasy Thoughts: For some NHL clubs, desperation begins to set in - Sportsnet.caAs some teams start determining whether they're buyers or sellers, Nick Alberga offers insight on value pickups who've been impacted by injury replacements and line shuffling.
Read more »