Why is Gary Bettman stalling on the Olympics?

In November, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said he hoped to have the matter of whether or not his league participates in the 2018 Olympics resolved by the end of January.

Now here we are at the end of January, and nothing has been resolved.

• Russell: NHL-IOC stalemate about bucks, not pucks
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In his customary all-star weekend press conference in Los Angeles on Saturday, Bettman claimed there was nothing to update on the Olympic issue, and that the league's board of governors spent "about 10 seconds" on the matter in their meeting on Saturday.

So what is Bettman waiting for? Why continue to string along the players and fans? If he and his owners no longer want to participate in the Olympics after playing in the last five Winter Games, what is going to change in the next few months that will alter the course?

Meanwhile, players like Jonathan Toews, John Tavares, Connor McDavid and others voiced their desire to play in Pyeongchang a year from now when asked over the weekend.

• McDavid can't picture Olympics without NHL players

Wayne Gretzky also chimed in last fall that he feels the Olympics are worth it. Alex Ovechkin repeatedly has said that he will go to Pyeongchang no matter what.

Follow the money

Meanwhile, NHLPA lawyers have held fruitful discussions with their International Ice Hockey Federation counterparts about the financial details involved in sending the world's best to South Korea. The two sides are in the process of putting an agreement down on paper.

New International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach has said the IOC will no longer pay for the participation of NHL players. In the previous five Olympic Games, the IOC and IIHF covered the costs of transportation, hospitality and insurance for the NHL players and their families.

Bettman admitted he doesn't like the fact the IOC will no longer foot the financial bill.

"There were probably some owners over time who always thought the Olympics were a good idea," Bettman said on Saturday. "There were some owners who always hated it, and then there were probably a bunch of clubs that really didn't give it much thought until the IOC said we're not going to pay the expenses. And then I think that caused a number of clubs to say, 'well, wait a minute, if that's how they value our participation, why are we knocking ourselves out?'

"So whether or not it gets paid, and we haven't been assured that it's being paid, we haven't been told where the money is coming from. And frankly, I have on some level, perhaps it's emotional, a real problem if [the IIHF] money that would otherwise go to hockey development is being diverted for this purpose. But I think when the IOC said, you know what, we don't think it's worth it, we're not going to pay, I think that may have opened a whole can of worms."

Still time to make a deal

It's worth noting that the NHL did not formally agree to participate in the 2006 Turin Olympics until the summer leading up to the Games because of the 2004-05 lockout. A similar scenario played out for the Sochi Olympics in 2014, due to the 2012-13 lockout.

The NHL commissioner also claims there is concern from the owners about a two-week disruption to the regular season for the Olympics, and there's a perception among owners that the league only benefits from Olympic attention when the Games are held in North America.

And yet, Bettman last fall put in front of the players a proposal to allow them to play in Pyeongchang if they would extend the current collective bargaining agreement another three years. It was a hollow offer the players swiftly turned down.

So again, the question of why Bettman continues to keep the Olympic dream alive (or maybe on life support, depending on who you believe) for McDavid and others needs to be asked: What will change between now and the time when an actual decision must be made?