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6 - CROSSROADS, TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 22,1994IIHF, NHL love affairis starting toget seriousThe love affair between the National Hockey League and the International Ice Hockey Federation is beginning to take on a serious form.One can’t, perhaps, talk about a marriage, but an engagement party in the not-too-distant future is certainly within the realm of possibility.The major problem that has been keeping the two sides apart is the signing of European players by NHL clubs, as well as the lack of communication concerning exhibition games for the NHL clubs in Europe. There is also the question of games between IIHF and NHL clubs, as well as participation of the best NHL players in world and, possibly, Olympic championships.There have been ongoing consultations between NHL commissioner Gary Bettman, NHL PlayersAssociation executive director Bob Goodenow,IIHF vice-president Gord Renwick of Cambridge and IIHF general secretary Jan-Ake Edvinsson.Last weekend Edvinsson attended a special meeting of the national associations of Sweden, Russia, Finland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia in Stockholm, at which Latvia participated with a written consent. The participants discussed all the before-mentioned issues and have reached an agreement.“I’m pleased to inform you that it was a very positive meeting,” said Edvinsson. “The main topic was the procedure of player transfer systems from North America to Europe and vice-versa. We also discussed the participation of NHL players in IIHF championship games, games between NHL and IIHF clubs and, finally, games between two NHL clubs in Europe.“We didn’t talk numbers. We’ll do that when we meet with Gary Bettman in Lillehammer. Our president, Dr. Gunther Sabetzki, and vice-president Gordon Renwick will also attend the meetings.Renwick, a front-runner for the next IIHF presidency, is also pleased with the steadily improving NHL-IIHF relations.“We’ve found Gary Bettman very co-operative and we are optimistic that we can finalize an agreement with the NHL in the next 60 days,” Renwick said.The NHL commissioner, who will be in Lillehammer this week, added a touch of optimism to the upcoming NHL-IIHF summit in Norway’s Olympic city.“We’ve been trying very hard to reach an amicable agreement with the IIHF, because I’m very concernedabout our relationship,” said Bettman.”We have been negotiating with officials of that organization because we want to be good citizens in the international hockey world.“We’re talking not only about transfers, but a number of important issues, including our participation in the 1988 Olympic Games in Nagano.”Respect For BettmanInitial distrust among European hockey officials is now turning into respect and empathy toward Bettman and his ideas. One of his most recent supporters has been Miro Subrt of the Czech Republic, a vice-president of the IIHF.“Gary Bettman is bringing with him a sense of fair cooperation from his basketball days, said Subrt. “He surprised me with a proposal I find very interesting, and that is to hold the world championships in September, a time when all NHL players can be available for their respective national teams. It’s an idea I’ve been trying to put forward to IIHF officials for six years.”If their efforts produce results, Team Canada could count on the services of players such as Wayne Gretzky, Doug Gilmour, Dave Andreychuk and Felix Potvin in global shinny showdowns. Other countries would, of course, have the pick of their nationals toiling in theNHL.GeorgeGrossColumnist Toronto Sun
Newspaper Details
Shoal Lake Crossroads
Shoal Lake, Manitoba, CA
Tue, Feb 22, 1994
Page 3
Full Page
Clipped by
Jason P.
USA 14 Dec 2018
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