Park said the organizing committee is still hopeful that a “solution will be found for 2018.”

The NHL announced it will not participate in the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, refusing for the first time in 20 years to halt its season for three weeks so its stars can chase gold for their home countries. In the statement, the NHL said it was open to hearing from the parties involved but that “no meaningful dialogue has materialized.”

“Instead, the IOC has now expressed the position that the NHL’s participation in Beijing in 2022 is conditioned on our participation in South Korea in 2018,” the league said. The league has released a statement saying it “considers the matter officially closed.”

Negotiations between the league, the NHL Players’ Association and the International Olympic Committee have stalled in recent months. One of those players is Russian Alexander Ovechkin, who has already committed to playing in the 2018 Olympics.
The NHL announces that it will not release its players to participate in the 2018 Winter Olympics.