ZURICH – With the ongoing discussions surrounding National Hockey League player participation at the Olympic Games, IIHF President René Fasel recently met with representatives from the NHL, the National Hockey League Players’ Association, and the International Olympic Committee.

IIHF.com caught up with President Fasel to get an update on the discussions.

Under your tenure as IIHF President NHL players have participated in every Olympics since Nagano 1998. Do you feel pressure to continue this partnership for PyeongChang 2018?

The Olympic Games is the biggest and most important global sporting event in the world. It offers a massive and hugely influential platform for our sport.

Such a pre-eminent event as the Olympic men’s ice hockey tournament deserves to feature the world’s top players competing against each other. So yes I absolutely do feel an obligation to ensure that we continue to have best-on-best, not just for the benefit of ice hockey fans watching but also to show the greatest possible version of our sport to the world.

Could you share a bit about your most recent discussions with the NHL/NHLPA and whether the situation has changed regarding player participation in the Olympic Games?

These were two very positive visits that I had in Los Angeles and New York. I had the opportunity to speak with some of the NHL owners and former NHL players during the All-Star Weekend, and also with representatives of the NHL and NHLPA a week later in New York.

We came out of these discussions with a clear comprehension of the issues at play. We did our homework ahead of our meeting in New York and were able to clarify many of the open questions that the owners and the PA had, especially relating to the questions of payments for insurance and travel.

To be clear, we were able to devise a financial framework that will cover these payments without drawing funds away from the IIHF’s development programs or those of our MNAs.

IOC President Thomas Bach was in New York to visit the NHL. Where does he stand regarding participation and how important was this visit?

It was a pleasure to have President Bach visiting the NHL, especially considering the tremendous contributions that NHL players have made to the Olympic Movement through the last five Olympic Winter Games.

President Bach recognizes that best-on-best competition in men’s ice hockey is an important pillar of the Games. He made it clear that he fully supports NHL participation in the Winter Olympics in 2018, 2022, and beyond.

We are nearing the one-year-to-go mark for the start of the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in PyeongChang. Have there been any discussions regarding a deadline to confirm NHL player participation?

Yesterday we held a conference call with the IIHF Council and representatives from each of the participating teams in the men’s tournament.

The majority of this group felt that the NHL will likely need to decide during the month of March because of their scheduling needs for next season. We also know that the European leagues and clubs need clarification as well on that important question before the end of the current season.

However, we do not feel at this time that it would be constructive to set a hard deadline for the NHL and NHLPA to confirm their participation.

And if the answer is no? Is there a “Plan B”?

We discussed this as well, and as it stands now we would not deviate from the standard format for the Olympic men’s tournament. We would keep to the same rules, schedule, and playing format, and would not shift to something like an Under-23 tournament, for example.

That said, Olympic ice hockey has a wonderful and exciting history that goes further back than just Nagano. Look at the Swedes in Lillehammer, the Soviets in Cortina d’Ampezzo, and the Americans in Lake Placid... these are just some of the great moments we have witnessed playing under the Rings.

If we do not have the NHL in PyeongChang, I have zero doubt that the Olympic men’s tournament will still be as thrilling and competitive as any we have seen.

ADAM STEISS