NHL Can Dream of Olympics : Hockey: 1997-98 season will be interrupted for 16 days so top players can compete in ’98 Games in Japan.

NHL stars can play in the 1998 Winter Olympics at Nagano, Japan, under a “Dream Team” format, according to an agreement reached in principle this week by officials of the NHL, the NHL Players Assn. and the International Ice Hockey Federation.

Eager to gain international exposure for their players--and to capitalize on global marketing opportunities--NHL executives agreed to interrupt the 1997-98 season for 16 days to allow prominent players to represent their countries in the Games.

Previous U.S. and Canadian Olympic squads have been made up of fringe NHL players, minor leaguers and college standouts. Many European players, lured to North America by high NHL salaries, have skipped the Olympics in recent years and forced their countries to rely on second-rank players or former stars.

The Kings’ Wayne Gretzky has said he would like to play for Canada in the Olympics, the only major hockey competition he has missed. Many other top-notch players, such as Pat LaFontaine, Chris Chelios, Brian Leetch, Kevin Stevens and 1995 rookie of the year Peter Forsberg were Olympians before they joined NHL clubs.

Because of concerns over scheduling, an agreement had been in doubt until NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and NHLPA Executive Director Bob Goodenow found common ground on a number of major issues Monday in New York. A source familiar with the negotiations said Thursday the IIHF has some reservations, chiefly about financial issues, but indicated those are not insurmountable. An announcement is expected at the IIHF’s semiannual congress at Budapest, Hungary, next weekend.

Rene Fasel, president of the IIHF, and Roger Fagerlund, head of the powerful Swedish Federation, were in New York on Wednesday for discussions with Bettman. The NHL’s Board of Governors will meet in New York Sept. 29 to discuss the agreement.

A spokesman for the NHLPA said he was unaware of an agreement but is “cautiously optimistic” about players’ participation. “We are focusing on final key issues to see whether or not this can be put together,” Goodenow told the Canadian Press. NHL spokesman Arthur Pincus said talks will continue and he remains hopeful a comprehensive agreement will be reached.

The Olympic tournament will take place in two phases over 16 days and will involve 14 teams. Teams with the most high-profile NHL players--the United States, Sweden, Finland, the Czech Republic, Russia and Canada--qualify automatically and will skip the first phase.

Eight other nations emerging from qualifying tournaments will compete in the first phase at Nagano, with the top two teams advancing to face the “Dream Teams.” The eight teams will be split into two groups for round-robin play. The winners of each group will play for the gold medal and the second-place finishers will play for the bronze. NHL players will have four days to travel and practice and will play seven games in eight days. They will get four travel days before the NHL schedule resumes.

The “Dream Team” concept, which allowed NBA players to take part in the most recent Summer Olympics and World Championships, has been advocated by Bettman as a means to showcase NHL players during a time of high television viewership. However, the NHL faced a hurdle the NBA did not because the Winter Games are held during the hockey season. NHL owners were reluctant to suspend operations for fear of injuries to players and lost revenue.

NHL officials floated the suggestion that the hockey tournament should be moved to the Summer Olympics, but that was resisted by the International Olympic Committee because those Games already have too many sports and athletes.

The NHL then proposed staging a 12-day Olympic tournament with a 14-day break in the season. The NHLPA rejected that during a meeting this summer after Mighty Duck forward Paul Kariya cited the difficulty he had adjusting to the time difference between North America and Japan when he played for Canada in the Pacific Cup tournament several years ago. Players proposed a 21-day hiatus, which the NHL criticized as too long.

The 16-day compromise was reached after Fasel, under pressure from the IOC and officials of the Nagano organizing committee, told Bettman and Goodenow he must have a final decision before the IIHF Congress so he could begin to plan the Olympic qualifying tournaments.

The remaining details include formulating rules about practices and time off for NHL players not participating in the Games and whether players whose countries must go through early qualifying would be released to play in those games. That would affect Arturs Irbe and Sandis Ozolinsh of the San Jose Sharks, who are Latvian. Also to be determined is whether the NHL season would be extended or shortened to accommodate the break.

Several sources also said Russian players declared they will not play if Viktor Tikhonov coaches the Russian team. Tikhonov is legendary for his success on the international and Olympic levels, but players object to his dictatorial style.

A source within the American hockey establishment said the two most likely coaches for the U.S. team are Ron Wilson of the Mighty Ducks and Kevin Constantine of the Sharks. Wilson, a naturalized U.S. citizen, coached the United States at the 1994 World Championships.