It would appear almost official that National Hockey League players will compete at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.
According to a Twitter post from Dan Rosen of NHL.com, commissioner Gary Bettman said the NHL, NHLPA, IOC and IIHF will meet Monday in New York to hopefully finalize an agreement.
Re. Olympics: Bettman said NHL, NHLPA, IOC, IIHF meets Monday in NYC to hopefully finalize an agreement. He has BOG approval to make a deal.
— Dan Rosen (@drosennhl) June 27, 2013
The negotiation process between those four parties to send NHL players back to compete in the Olympics for a fifth consecutive time has been ongoing since the end of the lockout in January.
Last week, Hockey Canada president Bob Bob Nicholson sounded hopeful that a formal agreement would be signed “within the next couple of weeks.”
At the 2010 Games in Vancouver, Canada won its second gold medal in the last three Olympics.