Make or Break Hockey Visit to South Korea

(ATR) NHL officials are inspecting PyeongChang 2018 hockey venues, perhaps decisive as to whether NHL players will go to Korea.

Representatives from the NHL, NHL Players Association, and International Ice Hockey Federation toured both the Kwandong Hockey Centre and the Gangneung Hockey Centre today according to media reports. Both arenas will host men’s and women’s hockey matches during the PyeongChang Olympics.

Gangneung, a city of 225,000 175 miles from Seoul will host the ice hockey matches. Located on the East Sea, Gangneung is a popular summer vacation destination for Koreans.

NHL participation for the 2018 Games is in doubt, as the NHL and IIHF remain at an impasse over out of pocket expenses. NHL Players have competed in every Winter Olympics since 1998 in Nagano.

To accommodate professional participation, the IOC has paid the necessary insurance expenses to allow for the NHL to shut down operations during the Olympics. Both the IIHF and NHL say that a decision must be reached by the end of January 2017, or NHL players will not be going to Korea.

NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly called the prospects of NHL participation "dim," last month before the final of the World Cup of Hockey. Daly was reported saying that he’s unsure of "any prospect of progress being made," in finding a solution.

The expenses in question are reported to be around $10 million, and IIHF president Rene Fasel says he is continuing to work round the clock to find a solution.

"I will go everywhere and anywhere to beg for the money," Fasel told the Associated Press at the World Cup. "That is my job."

Written by Aaron Bauer

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