International hockey official awaits NHL’s decision on Olympics

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While the NHL and its Players Association try to reach terms on whether to allow players to participate in the 2018 Winter Olympics, the man who needs an answer continues to wait patiently.

Rene Fasel, the president of the International Ice Hockey Federation, said he’s not ready to administer a drop-dead date for the NHL to declare its intentions regarding South Korea for 2018. He has offered to help finance the Olympic break, including covering insurance for the players, providing their accommodations and travel along with that of NHL officials.

So far, no dice. But Fasel said he still thinks the NHL will let its players participate. The league has been sending its players to the Winter Games since 1998.

“Not yet,” Fasel said when asked for an update Thursday before the finals of the World Junior Championships at the Bell Centre in Montreal. “We have done our homework. I have said that many times. We are waiting for the PA and the league to make a decision.

“We expect a final decision at the end of January at the latest. So we just wait.”

Fasel said it’s important for the IIHF to know the NHL’s intentions because other pro leagues also are impacted.

“The Swedish League has to shut down if the NHL is not going to go. If the NHL goes, then they will continue to play. Other leagues have the same thing.”

Fasel said there doesn’t need to be a drop-dead date because the NHL’s 31 arenas will dictate when a decision is made. It impacts Las Vegas because it will dictate how the Golden Knights’ first schedule is structured.

“The teams have to negotiate with their arenas for dates,” he said. “That has to get done by a certain time.”

Fasel said his optimism hasn’t waned.

“I’ve said it’s 50-50,” he said. “We expect them to come. Our door is wide open, and I’m really pleased the players have a great interest to be there. So we just wait.”

TOP 100

Last Sunday in Toronto, the NHL introduced 33 of the Greatest 100 Players in league history. Several of them, including Toronto’s Johnny Bower, Red Kelly and Dave Keon, Boston’s Johnny Bucyk and Chicago’s Glenn Hall, shared stories.

Kelly, an all-star at center and defenseman, was the first coach of the expansion Los Angles Kings in 1967. With the NHL expanding into Las Vegas, he had some thoughts on the move.

“Well, I was the first coach I guess in the L.A. expansion, so I kind of know what the new clubs are going through,” he said. “It’s great for the players to have more teams, there’s more positions that are open. It’s not easy for those new teams to come in and play against the older teams. They usually get some talent, but they usually don’t get the top talent. That takes a few years to build up.

“So the fans have to be good fans in those cities, because they’re going to have to maybe put up with not a winning team right off the bat. But if they get the coaching and the management in those organizations and they draft well, it will be maybe a few years down the line, but they can gradually make it.”

REMEMBERING MILT

Milt Schmidt lived to hear he was among the top 100 NHL players of all time. But he died Tuesday after suffering a stroke while in hospice care outside Boston. He was 98.

Schmidt played, coached and was a general manager of the Bruins, and centered the team’s famous Kraut Line with Woody Dumart and Bobby Bauer in the 1930s and early 1940s. All three were of German descent — Schmidt fought in World War II after enlisting in the Canadian Air Force — and were stationed in England.

Schmidt had 229 goals and 346 assists and won two Stanley Cup titles. He was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1961.

HONORING DOC

The New Jersey Devils have decided to honor their past with a ring of honor, and the first inductee was owner John McMullen.

His wasn’t a familiar face to fans, but he is responsible for bringing the NHL to New Jersey. He relocated the Colorado Rockies franchises to the Meadowlands in 1982 and hired Lou Lamoriello to run the Devils. Under Lamoriello’s leadership, the team won Stanley Cups in 1995 and 2000 while McMullen was owner. The Devils won a third title in 2003.

McMullen was also a baseball fan. He was one of the limited partners to George Steinbrenner with the New York Yankees and also owned the Houston Astros from 1980 to 1993.

Steve Carp’s weekly NHL notebook appears Sundays. Contact him at scarp@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913. Follow @stevecarprj on Twitter.