NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and International Ice Hockey Federation President Rene Fasel met for about 2½ hours after a 90-minute get-together Thursday night. No new talks were scheduled, but the sides are expected to meet again.

NHL players have participated in the past four Winter Games, and the league is weighing whether it gets enough return on its overall investment, which requires North American hockey to shut down its season for more than two weeks to take part.

“I think it is fair to say that if this can be worked out to everybody’s satisfaction, we’d all like to have NHL players at the Olympics,” Bettman said. “To go through chronicling issue by issue isn’t going to serve anybody’s purpose and probably isn’t all that interesting.

“I think, most importantly, hockey fans that like and love the Olympics would like to see us get this done, and that’s what we’re going to be focused on. … Ultimately, the IOC, the NHL players and the board of governors are going to have to approve what we get done, but we’re working on it.”

Players’ association executive director Don Fehr joined the discussions by phone from Toronto. The union and the NHL appear aligned in their position on the Olympics now that their labor dispute is behind them.

“There are many issues that are of common interest,” Bettman said of all the parties involved. “I believe we have been supportive of issues the players’ association has raised, and the players’ association has been supportive of issues that we have raised. The IIHF has been supportive to the IOC on issues that both the players’ association and the league have raised.”

No decision on whether NHL players would head to Russia next February was expected this week, but one will have to be made soon.

“We put ourselves on a timetable,” Bettman said. “We each have some work to do internally before we get back together, but we’re going to get back together again and stay in communication.”

It is believed hockey federations will need to know by May what players will be available for their teams. The NHL would like an even quicker resolution.

“I think timing is more of an issue from our standpoint,” Bettman said. “We have to do the schedule for next season. I don’t want to prognosticate. We’re all trying to get to the same place.”

While the NHL and the players are interested in participating in the Olympics again, they have to figure out if it makes sense for them to interrupt another season to make it possible.

The league is just coming off a long shutdown caused by the lockout that produced a shortened regular season this year.

“For sure we have to know as early as possible,” said Fasel, an IOC member. “As Gary said, we do not have a deadline, but what we know is next week we’re going to start to work (with) a lot of people to prepare as soon as possible an agreement.

“It is not easy, but that makes it very interesting.”

The time difference will force the Games to be played at off hours in North America, and the NHL would like to receive concessions from the IOC that haven’t been made before.

In return for sending its players to the Sochi Olympics, the NHL is trying to acquire video, photograph and website rights for the games. The IIHF and the IOC retain those exclusive rights now.

The NHL began sending its players to the 1998 Games in Nagano, Japan, and continued through the 2010 Vancouver Games. Even though the NHL received great exposure by having its players take part in an Olympics in North America, disrupting the season does come with a cost.

The stopping of the season, the potential injury risk to players, and no tangible upside for the NHL are all factors that create doubt about whether the investment is good for the league.

“I hope they vote yes,” said New York Islanders goalie Rick DiPietro, a U.S. Olympian in 2006. “It’s as simple as that. It’s great for the sport.”

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The incident occurred at 11:29 of the second period and set off a rash of penalties. Not long after, Dubinsky and Los Angeles forward Mike Richards fought. All told, 37 minutes in penalties were handed out, and Dubinsky was assessed a major penalty for the original incident as well as a game misconduct.

The fine money will be sent to the NHL players’ emergency assistance fund.
Dubinsky was acquired over the summer from the New York Rangers in the trade for forward Rick Nash. He has four points this season.

The Blue Jackets also announced Wednesday that they have assigned center Ryan Johansen to their American Hockey League affiliate in Springfield, Mass.

Johansen, 20, has two assists in 10 games with the Blue Jackets this season. He had 14 goals and 13 assists in 34 games with Springfield before the belated start of the NHL season.

He won eight of nine faceoffs in more than 16 minutes on the ice Tuesday night.

Johansen was Columbus’ first pick, fourth overall, in the 2010 NHL draft.

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After a 36-hour vote that ended Saturday morning, the players’ association announced that its members approved the deal reached with the league last week.

It would be an understatement to say lot has happened since we last saw the NHL in action, when the Los Angeles Kings raised their first franchise Stanley Cup, writes Scott Burnside. Blog

However, the sides continued to work to complete a difficult memorandum of understanding that must be signed before camps can open and the new schedule to be released.

The NHL and NHLPA still “hope” to finish the memorandum Saturday night and keep training camps on schedule for a Sunday opening, but there is no guarantee.

Until then, hockey can’t get back to regular business.

The league’s board of governors unanimously ratified the contract on Wednesday. The plan was for training camps to open on Sunday, assuming the memorandum of understanding was finished. Voluntary physicals and medical exams were permitted to begin on Friday.

The players’ vote wasn’t unanimous, as a source told ESPN that 667 players voted “yes,” while 12 voted “no.” The players saw an 89 percent turnout in voting.

The remaining transition rules, such as when players can go on the ice and for how long, were still being finalized.

“While the players’ vote ratifies the new CBA with the NHL owners, a written memorandum of understanding consistent with what the players voted on, must be completed before the agreement becomes final,” a union statement said Saturday.

Less than a week after the league and the union worked all night to secure an agreement to save the season, players followed team owners and approved the tentative deal that was reached last Sunday — the 113th day of the lockout.

Unofficial team workouts have been taking place around the league all week. A 48-game season is expected to begin Jan. 19 without any preseason games in advance, assuming there are no more glitches in negotiations.

A total of 510 games, the Winter Classic and the All-Star Game were all casualties of the four-month lockout that began Sept. 16. The regular season was supposed to open on Oct. 11.

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Datsyuk is one of a number of players who went to the Kontinental Hockey League during the NHL lockout. Now that players and owners have reached a tentative agreement to end the lockout, the KHL has needed to replace several selections to its All-Star Game. But a spokesman for the Russian league says Datsyuk and New Jersey Devils star Ilya Kovalchuk are still expected to participate.

NHL players have until Saturday to vote on the new labor deal that would end the four-month lockout. If a majority of players choose to accept the deal, training camps will open Sunday, and a 48-game regular season will begin Jan. 19.

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The players’ association announced that electronic voting will begin at 8 p.m. Thursday ET and will last until 8 a.m. Saturday. The union said it will announce the result after voting is finished.

If a majority of the more than 700 players choose to accept the deal that NHL owners unanimously ratified on Wednesday, training camps will open Sunday, and a 48-game regular season will begin Jan. 19.

A tentative agreement was reached early Sunday, the 113th day of the lockout, after a 16-hour negotiating session in New York.

The new deal is for 10 years, but either side can opt out after eight. The previous collective bargaining agreement was in effect for seven seasons.

The lockout began on Sept. 16, and forced the cancellation of 510 games, beginning with opening day on Oct. 11. The outdoor Winter Classic and the All-Star Game were also wiped out this season.

The NHL says it will release a new schedule once the ratification process is completed.

A memorandum of understanding that has been in the drafting process by the two sides this week must be signed before training camps open.

The players’ association wanted as much of the document as possible to be completed before voting began.

Leading up to Thursday’s start time for voting, the union has been busy calling players and agents to educate them about the changes and additions to the tentative agreement.

Assuming the deal is approved by the players, as expected, there will be only six days between the opening of camps and the start of the season. No preseason games will be played.

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