IOC confident NHL players will remain part of the Olympics

From Sportsbeat staff, in Vancouver

 INTERNATIONAL Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge insists he remains optimistic that NHL players will be involved in the ice hockey events at the 2014 Sochi Games.

STAYING PUT: IOC president Jacques Rogge is hoping to tie down NHL stars such as Alexander Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby to the Olympics again (Getty Images)

Talks between Rogge, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and International Hockey Federation president Rene Fasel have continued in Vancouver, although there is no sign of the issue being resolved.

NHL players have appeared in the last four Olympics but that arrangement ends at the conclusion of these Games, with hints from club owners there was little appetite for it to continue.

They claim the financial losses of shutting down their league for a ten-day mid-season competition are unsustainable.

It is less of a problem when the Olympics were staged in North America but with the next hosts Sochi in Russia, followed by another Games in either Europe or Asia, the owners remain unconvinced.

"We had a meeting and we hope the NHL players continue to participate because they bring a lot of quality to the Olympic hockey tournament," said Rogge.

"There has been no final discussion and there is still time to find a solution.

"The players have been clear they want to participate and the Olympics is the best promotion for the NHL and hockey.

"The television ratings for the Olympic hockey final are way higher than the Stanley Cup final."

However, Rogge admitted he was concerned with a ‘talent discrepancy’ in the women’s hockey tournament.

Canada and the USA will again contest the women’s final and have blazed a trial through a succession of one-sided group and knockout matches. Canada have scored 40 goals and conceded two, the USA 46 goals, with just two let in.

But Rogge called for patience and urged officials from the international governing body to spend more time and resources redressing the imbalance.

“I have no doubt that in the future women’s hockey will be a hit,” he added.

“The women’s game is still a young sport and being in the Olympics will help its popularity.”

AS IT HAPPENS: Day 14 of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver