During the last installment of the CBC's Hotstove Tonight, Glenn Healy stated that the NHL and International Olympic Committee were getting down to brass tacks regarding an Olympic participation agreement, and the Globe and Mail's David Shoalts filed an article confirming Healy's news and adding more to the mix during the third period of the Bruins-Blackhawks game:

Now that the International Olympic Committee finally agreed to cough up a few quid as part of a pro quo agreement with the NHL and NHL Players’ Association, the league’s players are expected to play at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics in Russia.

It is not official yet, so none of the principals are commenting for the record, as the deal between the league, union, IOC and the International Ice Hockey Federation is now in the hands of the lawyers. They are hashing out the details, which might produce a snag, but there are hopes a formal agreement can be produced within two weeks.

However, the major hurdle was cleared a while ago, when the IOC was convinced by the NHL and NHLPA to open its massive wallet and pay the lion’s share of the costs of shutting the North American league down for two weeks and bringing the players to Russia. This includes the most expensive item – insurance on the NHL players’ contracts in case of injury – but also a host of other issues of equal importance to management as well as the players.

Continued