Bob Nicholson says the IOC has rejected six jersey designs submitted by Hockey Canada. (John Woods/Canadian Press)

Hockey Canada is tightening its belt by limiting staff travel, instituting a hiring freeze, and reducing the annual summer goaltending camp and coaches' seminar.

Turbulent financial times are primarily behind the move, says Hockey Canada president Bob Nicholson, but questions over how much money Hockey Canada will make from its 2010 Olympic replica jerseys has him concerned about licensing revenue, too.

"This is more about the economy than anything else," said Nicholson.

Summer camps for the men's under-18 and under-20 goaltenders, and women's under-19 and under-22 goalies, have been axed, but Nicholson said the goalies could get an extra day or two of instruction at their respective team camps.

The annual coaches' seminar will also change with the men's under-17 and women's component eliminated.

"We'll do the under-18 and junior [coaches] in a different manner," Nicholson said.

He doesn't want Canada's governing body of hockey to increase minor hockey fees.

"Minor hockey fees to Hockey Canada haven't increased at all in the last three years and hopefully they won't increase for many more years," he said.

While Hockey Canada's sponsorship and licensing programs are the envy of other Canadian sports federations, two sources of money are uncertain.

One is possible lost revenue from sales of replica Olympic jerseys the teams will wear next year in Vancouver and Whistler, B.C.

The International Olympic Committee insists Hockey Canada change the logo it has marketed for years to conform to the IOC's rules.

The other is how much money Own The Podium allots to the men's program for the 2009-10 season. OTP is the five-year, $120-million plan designed to help Canada win the most medals at its own Olympics.

OTP will determine in May how it will divide up the final $28 million in 2009-10.

Some jersey designs rejected

Hockey Canada's revenue from the sale of Olympic replica jerseys is unclear because of the ongoing saga of what Canada's hockey teams can wear on the front of their jerseys in Vancouver.

Nicholson confirmed the IOC has rejected six jersey designs submitted by Hockey Canada.

"The money off the jerseys has been very beneficial not just to our national-team programs, but more importantly to our grassroots programs," Nicholson said. "That is a concern.

"We've done a tremendous amount in the last two and three years to tie all youngsters to our logo and we're going to have to miss a two-week period that could have helped us keep those dreams alive."

Jacques Rogge, president of the International Olympic Committee, told told the Canadian Press in an interview Friday that he believes a solution can be reached to allow some form of the Hockey Canada logo to appear on team jerseys during the 2010 Winter Olympics.

"I think we can find a solution in some form," Rogge said. "We are discussing this with the International Ice Hockey Federation to find the best possible solution."

Rogge said any agreement on the logo must first be reached between Hockey Canada and the Canadian Olympic Committee, and added that the ban on logos was instituted to prevent advertising from appearing on team uniforms during the Games.

The IOC clamped down on the uniforms worn by the Argentine and Brazilian soccer team during last summer's Olympics in Beijing.

Hockey Canada's licensing revenues from branded products have spiked in Olympic years to over $40 million in 2001-02 and 2005-06.

But Nicholson would not put a price tag on the Hockey Canada's logo.

"All you have to do is look back to the world juniors in Ottawa and seven million people watched a junior hockey game," he said. "I'm not sure if anyone in this country can put a price tag to what that logo means to hockey and Canadians."

The women's hockey team received $1.15 million this winter from OTP. There isn't a full-time men's national program, so Hockey Canada got $353,000 for 2008-09.

"We haven't taken very much money from OTP for the men because they promised us a lot of money this year and we're hoping they're going continue to live by the words we've lived by for the last three years," Nicholson said.

Sponsor support high, Hockey Canada head says

Nicholson says Hockey Canada hasn't run a deficit for nine years and sponsors remain intact, thanks to Canada hosting the world junior hockey championships three times in a four-year span starting with Ottawa this year.

The tournament attracts record attendance and record ratings on television and is thus an attractive advertising vehicle.

"I've been ecstatic the way sponsors have stayed with us and looked for renewals and I think a lot of that had to do with the world juniors," Nicholson said. "It's probably our No. 1 value."

A woman's hockey camp scheduled for December was cut, but Nicholson says that was due to conflicts with other events and not to cut costs.

He says it's prudence, not panic, that has Hockey Canada looking for ways to save money.

"I look back in 1994 and 1995 and we were a bankrupt organization," he said. "We've done a lot through national events, through our licensing programs, to how we deal with partnerships with the Canadian Hockey League, the NHL and NHLPA.

"You've got to stay ahead of it. It's like any good business. Don't be reacting when you're in the red and that's why we've tightened the belt."