IIHF president needs more info on NHL's Olympic stance by mid-March

The NHL, NHLPA, IIHF, and IOC met in New York City on Friday to discuss the NHL's participation in the 2018 Olympics, and while it seems once again that little progress was made, it appears there's a rough deadline in place.

IOC president Thomas Bach told reporters that it was merely a courtesy meeting, and said there were no negotiations on whether NHLers will be in attendance at the games, according to TSN's Frank Seravalli.

Bach added that it's a priority to have NHL players attend the Olympics, and IIHF president Rene Fasel said it was important for Bach to visit with the NHL for the first time.

Fasel suggested that while there's no official deadline in place for a solution, he has a meeting in South Korea in mid-March, and needs to know more about the league's stance by then.

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman asserted back in December that the NHL Board of Governors doesn't support sending players to the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics, due in large part to the interruption of the season schedule and the potential for injuries to star players.