Fasel/Bettman: This is not the right time to discuss about future

18 Feb 2014 | Davide Tuniz from Sochi

In a much awaited press conference in Sochi, among praise and compliments, no decisions for 2018 were unveiled

After this press conference now the world knows that NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and IIHF President Renè Fasel has a long-time friendship, that they never fought in last years during the interminable discussions about the partecipation of NHL players at Olympics , but "had fun", as Bettman said. Beyond these amenities, the bosses of hockey, with them also NHLPA Executive Director Donlad Fehr, praise the organization of Sochi 2014, the level of tournament so far, expecting "a terrific week" and recalls the commitment of the players. "They played on Sunday and on Monday they took a plane for the other side of the world, had practice on Tuesday and played on Wednesday, this says a lot about how much the players consider this event" said Fehr. No more? No more.....Of course the first (and many others) question was about the partecipation of NHL players at next Olympic, in PyeongChang, Korea, but the response was terse and three in unison : "We are here to attend a tournament that until now has been wonderful and it promises to be even more from here on, so all negotiations about the future will be conducted in the coming months, there haven't been discussions in last months, as reported, nor there will be talks in these days." A statement that could be interpreted as: "we haven't yet an agreement ." In recent months, in fact, there were rumors of an unfavorable opinion mainly from NHLPA , that would not be willing to repeat the sacrifices of compressing a long season to go play in a nation where hockey is definitely not the most popular sport, despite the good results of Korean teams in Asia League. A couple of weeks ago, the Associated Press - not exactly a local newspaper - reported about a Fasel idea of moving the hockey at the Summer Olympics , to avoid conflict with the NHL season, idea defined here by Fasel "a complete nonsense" Despite pats on the back and much congratulations the hope of seeing the NHLers also in PyeongChang is still very uncertain. Final curtain with Fasel says : "There is no emotion for a player bigger than to win the gold medal at the Olympics ... " and Bettman " ... except to win the Stanley Cup"