NHL opposed to Olympic play

TORONTO — If the NHL needs a compelling reason to compete in the next Winter Olympics, Bill Daly says the league hasn’t found one yet.

And the NHL deputy commissioner added Friday that he’s not going speculate on what it might take to convince a majority of the NHL’s board of governors that the world’s best players should take the ice in South Korea in little more than a year.

“From our board’s perspective, there has to be a compelling reason for us to go the Olympics,” Daly said. “And at this point, as I stand here now, we’re searching for that reason.”

Daly’s comments are the latest in the NHL’s bid to apply pressure on the International Ice Hockey Federation to meet league demands involving travel and insurance costs. And they also present the latest signal of a league not entirely convinced of the benefits of breaking up its schedule to have its players competing at a time while most North Americans are sleeping or just getting out of bed. South Korea is 14 hours ahead of North America’s Eastern time zone.

Etc. …

BASEBALL: Washington Nationals second baseman Daniel Murphy has committed to play for Team USA in the upcoming World Baseball Classic, The Washington Post reported.

OLYMPICS: Four Russian skeleton athletes have been provisionally suspended by the International Bobsled and Skeleton Federations for alleged doping rule violations at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. The federation said Friday it took action after being informed by the International Olympic Committee that investigations had been opened into the four athletes — who have not been named.

SOCCER: Mark Clattenburg, who refereed the biggest finals in soccer in 2016, would consider a transfer from the English Premier League to the wealthy and ambitious Chinese Super League. Hundreds of millions of dollars are being spent by Chinese clubs on high-profile talent in a bid to become a soccer superpower.