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International Ice Hockey Federation President Rene Fasel said he had a good discussion Wednesday with NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and NHL Players Association Executive Director Don Fehr about the worlds top hockey players participating in the 2018 Olympics in South Korea.No hitting, and no elbows, Fasel joked in a telephone interview with The Associated Press.Bettman described the meeting as constructive and candid.Still lots of issues, Bettman wrote in an email to the AP.Fasel said his job is to raise funds for the players transportation and insurance. The International Olympic Committee does not want to cover those costs as it has the previous five Olympics. Fasel hopes to persuade the IOC to financially support the NHLs participation.It is the only league that shuts down to participate in the Winter or Summer Olympics, Fasel said.Bettman and NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly declined to comment on a Sportsnet report indicating the league has offered to sign off on allowing players to go for gold in South Korea in exchange for the union not opting out of the collective bargaining agreement in September 2019, which would in effect extend the deal for three years.There have been some suggestions that could be construed that that discussion would be worth having, Fehr told reporters in New York. Obviously, we discuss that with players. We have begun that process, but were a long way from done.Bettman has said a decision would need to be made by early January at the latest, giving the league time to create its 2017-18 schedule with or without a two-plus week break for the Olympics.Fasel isnt in a rush.We can wait longer because we want to do all we can to keep best-on-best hockey in the Olympics, Fasel said.NHL and NHLPA officials recently visited the Olympic site in Pyeongchang, South Korea, and have deemed it suitable for international competition.Whether the worlds best hockey players go to South Korea in about 15 months is up to the league and union, though Russian superstar Alexander Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals has said he will go even if there isnt an agreement.The IOC spent about $14 million to cover travel and insurance costs for NHL players for the 2014 Olympics in Sochi, Russia. Fasel has said the bill would be about $10 million for the next Olympics because it wont be necessary to charter planes to South Korea as it was to get players to Sochi.The NHL hasnt sounded eager about going to South Korea, but does appear very interested in tapping into Chinas huge market in 2022.When the IOC awarded the Beijing Games, it certainly created a bigger opportunity than we thought existed potentially before, Daly said in September. But it is also possible that you dont go to one Olympics and you do go to the other. I dont think anybody has ruled that out as a possibility.Fasel has been trying to persuade national Olympic committees and hockey federations to donate funds to keep the games best players on the biggest stage in sports. He acknowledged the IIHF could possibly use some of the $40 million it gets from the IOC every four years and make cuts from its development programs for boys and girls.Its not going to be easy to get this done, but thats my job, Fasel said.---Follow Larry Lage at www.twitter.com/larrylage and follow his work at www.bigstory.ap.org/content/larry-lage Køb Fake Yeezy . The FA rejected Wilsheres appeal that the length of his punishment was "clearly excessive" and said Thursday his suspension begins with immediate effect. He will miss league matches against Chelsea on Monday and West Ham on Dec. Yeezy Boost 350 V2 Danmark . Now tied for second in the league in shootout goals, the 24-year-old likes to see what the opposing goaltender has in store before he ultimately lands on a move. http://www.yeezyskodanmark.com/ . -- Damian Lillard and LaMarcus Alrdridge were again the go-to duo for the Trail Blazers against the Kings. Fake Yeezy Danmark Køb . They reached the 100-point plateau for the fourth time in five games, bested the visiting Trail Blazers by 34 in the paint and scored 19 of the final 25 points in regulation. Yeezy Boost 350 Danmark Køb . It was the kind of score that might make everyone else wonder which course he was playing. Except that Graeme McDowell saw the whole thing. Crouched behind the 10th green at Sheshan International, McDowell looked over at the powerful American and said, "Ive probably seen 18 of the best drives Ive seen all year in the last two days. Five stages to watch in the 21-leg Tour de France, which starts on Saturday at Mont-Saint-Michel and ends on July 24 in Paris:---STAGE 1, July 2, 188 kilometers (117 miles) from Mont-Saint-Michel to Utah Beach (Sainte-Marie-du-Mont) in the Normandy region:The Mont-Saint-Michel, a World Heritage Benedictine abbey perched on a rock off the Normandy coast, will provide a picture-postcard start for the race as the Grand Depart returns to home roads after visits to Britain and the Netherlands in the last two years.The first stage ends at Utah Beach, where Allied troops landed on D-Day in 1944.Following the coastline for long stretches, wind could play a big role, with the possibility of splitting the peleton. In the end, though, sprinters are expected to vie for the stage win and the honor of wearing the first yellow jersey.Germanys Marcel Kittel and Britains Mark Cavendish are the pick of the bunch.---STAGE 5, July 6, 216 kilometers (134 miles) from Limoges to Le Lioran in the Massif Central:After the sprinters have the spotlight in the opening four legs, this should be the stage where the race really starts.Featuring five climbs in a constant up-and-down finish, including the 1,589-meter (5,213-foot) Pas de Peyrol, it will mark the first time that the Tour has gone above 1,500 meters this early in the race since the leg-breaking start in 1979, when there were three stages in the Pyrenees over the first four days.Look for overall contenders Chris Froome, Nairo Quintana and Alberto Contador to spring into action for the first time.The Tour wont be won here but it could be lost.---STAGE 8, July 9, 183 kilometers (114 miles) from Pau to Bagneres-de-Luchon in the Pyrenees:The most difficult stage on paper, featuring the legendary Col du Tourmalet plus three moree serious climbs in quick succession -- the Hourquette dAncizan, the Val Louron-Azet and the Col de Peyresourde.ddddddddddddAfter hours in the saddle, the leaders will be pleased to take on the high-speed descent from the Peyresourde into the finish in Luchon, which is not highly technical.Whoever holds the yellow jersey after this stage will have taken a major step toward overall victory.---STAGE 12, July 14, 184 kilometers (114 miles) from Montpellier to Mont Ventoux in the Provence region:French climbing specialists Romain Bardet and Thibaut Pinot surely have circled this stage for special attention. Besides containing one of the races most famous climbs, the stage will be held on Bastille Day.Defending champion Chris Froome was the stage winner when the Tour last scaled Ventouxs barren, 1,909-meter (6,263-foot) peak in 2013.Ventoux was also the site of an epic contest between Lance Armstrong and Marco Pantani in 2000, and where British rider Tom Simpson died in 1967 after he used a lethal cocktail of amphetamines and alcohol.Heat is usually a factor on the grueling climb up Ventoux and there will be the added factor of wanting to keep something in reserve for the races first -- and longest -- time trial a day later.---STAGE 18, July 21, 17-kilometer individual time trial from Sallanches to Megeve in the Rhone-Alps region:Its the Tours first mountain time trial since the 2004 race against the clock up lAlpe dHuez.Besides the flat opening four kilometers (2 1/2 miles) and a short descent at the finish, its entirely uphill.While there will still be two more stages in the Alps, this leg could be decisive for overall victory. 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