from Pierre LeBrun of TSN,

Deadline, what deadline?

Despite the committee being quoted in October as saying Jan. 15 was a deadline for a decision on NHL participation in South Korea, an International Olympic Committee spokesperson said Friday there is, in fact, no firm deadline.

"There is no agreed final deadline, but we continue to work towards a positive outcome," an IOC spokesperson told ESPN via email Friday.

That matches with the responses to ESPN from the NHL, its players' association and International Ice Hockey Federation this week, which all said they didn't believe there was any firm deadline the IOC had imposed.

NHLPA executive director Donald Fehr has always maintained there was time past January to get a deal done, citing how late in the proceedings the Sochi 2014 agreement got finalized (July 2013, just seven months before the Winter Games).

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