‘Productive’ meetings wrap in Sochi, but no NHL participation agreement yet

It’s still not official that NHL players will be at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, but things are trending in the right direction.

“We had two productive days of meetings in Sochi,” said NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly, per TSN.ca. “Saw and visited all the hockey venues, the Olympic Village and other key Olympics-related infrastructure. We met with the Sochi Organizing Committee, the IIHF and a number of IOC representatives. There is more work to be done, but it was an important trip for us to make.”

Meanwhile, IIHF president Rene Fasel said he remains “optimistic about the NHL’s participation in Sochi” and hopes an agreement between all the parties can be reached by “latest beginning of May.”

Video: Bettman, Fasel discuss ‘constructive’ Olympic participation meeting