NHLPA's Donald Fehr 'optimistic' about Olympics; NHL's Gary Bettman, not so much

TORONTO — Donald Fehr, the executive director of the NHL Players' Association, said Sunday he “is more optimistic now than I’ve ever been” that an agreement can be reached to allow players to compete at the 2018 Olympics in South Korea.

“I assume there will be further discussions over the course of the next several weeks, and I choose to be optimistic on this one,” Fehr told reporters before the Centennial Classic.

This comes less than a month after NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman made it clear that there is considerable owner opposition to continue letting players participate. NHL players have been competing at the Olympics since 1998.

Bettman said Sunday that there has been no change in the league’s position.

"We've been there, done that five times and while Vancouver and Salt Lake City were different, when you're halfway around the world it's not the easiest thing to have in our season," Bettman said.

But Fehr continued to paint a different picture.

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“You get a sense of things as they go along, and how they’re likely to end up,” Fehr said. “Doesn’t mean you’re always right, but you get a sense of things.”

The NHL’s reluctance centers on the hardship of shutting down the league, condensing the regular-season schedule and concern over injuries.

“Absent some compelling reason, I’m not sure there’s a whole lot of sentiment on the part of the clubs to go through the disruption of taking almost three weeks off during the season," Bettman said.

Another major issue is the International Olympic Committee’s decision not to pay the transportation and insurance costs for players.

International Ice Hockey Federation president Rene Fasel has said he can find a way to cover the costs, which are approximately $10 million.

The NHL has raised the possibility of tying Olympic participation into a possible collective bargaining agreement extension.

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“(Players) didn’t have an appetite on the basis of the suggestion that was made to them, no,” Fehr said. “The question is, if there would ever be an opportunity for a more wide-ranging discussion that would sweep in the kinds of things people would bring up in bargaining, obviously I would talk to the players about it. Now, that’s hard to do, it’s hard to reach a resolution without a deadline, when you have that kind of situation. But I would not be personally averse to considering it.’’

Could there be a long-term international agreement separate from the CBA?

“One would think so,” Fehr said. “One would think so. Look, if you have a CBA expiring in a year, does the NHL not plan for the season or seasons after the CBA expires? Of course they do. It doesn’t mean you don’t change things, it doesn’t mean you can’t have issues. … It is always conceivable that you can do a long-term international program which would sweep in all kinds of events if even if you don’t have a CBA extension, even if that means that there are some uncertainties.’’