The fencing between NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and IIHF president Rene Fasel over the participation of NHL players at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, continued in Vancouver on Thursday.

Fasel went as far as to grovel in front of Bettman for the next Winter Games.

"For our game, our fans, Gary, we need you 100 per cent," Fasel pleaded in a joint press conference with the two hockey honchos.

The bottom line is that the NHL is not ready to make a final decision on its participation in the Olympics. The players have made their position clear: that they want to continue to play in the best-on-best tournament. But the speculation continues that the NHL doesn't want to commit because the league foresees the issue as part of the next collective bargaining agreement.

The current CBA expires in Sept. 2011. However, the players have the option to extend the agreement to a seventh season (2011-12), a decision that has to be made by May 2011. But why wait until the CBA negotiations to commence?

NHLPA spokesman Jonathan Weatherdon remarked Thursday that the players would be more than willing to open up discussions on their Olympic participation prior to negotiations on a new CBA.

Meanwhile, Bettman refused to even speculate on the chances of the NHL's participation in Sochi and he also brushed off a question about Alexander Ovechkin's threat last fall that he will play in the Olympics in his homeland even if the NHL doesn't participate.

"You need to understand that [participating in the Olympics] there is an impact on our NHL season," said Bettman, referring to issues like the condensced schedule, shutting down the business for two weeks and losing momentum. "We need to balance that impact.

"The contracts of the players participating in these Olympics is $2.1 billion [US]. To turn over the most important assets in our game, and that is our players, nobody should underestimate the fact that we do that and our players want us to do that because we feel it is in the best interest of hockey."

Bettman, Fasel and NHL deputy commisioner Bill Daly met with IOC president Jacques Rogge on Wednesday to exchange pleasantries, but the gathering simply was described as a meeting in which Rogge expressed his desire to have the NHL players back in Sochi.

'There is no relationship'

There was some amusing interplay between Fasel and Bettman in their 30 minutes together. One reporter asked Fasel about his failure of securing a transfer agreement between the Russia's Kontinental Hockey League and the NHL. At first, Fasel attempted to quell the impression that there is a frosty relationship between the KHL and NHL. To which, Bettman replied, "there is no relationship."

After Bettman issued one of his lawyerly answers about the NHL's participation in future Olympics, Fasel tried to scold him, charging Bettman that he only was concerned with the business side of the sport.

"You play over 4,000 games over the four years and you play 31 games at the Olympics," Fasel said. "I will work day and night to have them [NHLers] in Sochi."

Bettman replied, "It has nothing to do with money. It has to do with the competitiveness of our season.

"If you have a team that has a dozen players participating in the Olympics, when we come back that team will be a little more banged up than a team that maybe sent one or two players to the Olympics."

A couple other highlights from the session, Fasel stated that hockey will remain part of the Winter Games with or without the NHL because it is a marquee event. There was some speculation that maybe hockey could become a Summer Games event because it wouldn't interfere with the NHL season.

Bettman revealed there is interest to hold another World Cup of Hockey, but no concrete plans have become on when and where to host the next tournament.