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BUFFALO, N.Y. -- The NHL Players Association is expected to reject the NHLs verbal proposal to extend the current collective bargaining agreement in exchange for Olympic participation in 2018.The players association is expected to notify the league of its decision before next weeks board of governors meeting in Florida. An NHLPA spokesperson said Thursday that the group has not officially notified the league.The NHLPA discussed the leagues Olympic proposal, but it was met with a strong no by the players, who have said they want to play in the 2018 Olympic Games in Pyeongchang.Any time you go through [CBA] negotiations as we went through [in 2013], these big decisions take some time and it was early on when [the league] said, Hey, well extend it three years and we didnt know exactly what was going on, like are we going to negotiate, or is it take-it-or-leave it? New York Rangers team representative Derek Stepan said. In the short meetings we had with the PA it was pretty clear everyone was still a little uncomfortable with continuing the CBA for three more years. Obviously, a big topic was escrow and trying to find a way to negotiate that, so it was a combination of things that made the decision pretty easy to say were not quite set on just doing three more years.Even if the players had agreed, which is unlikely, the concept would still have to be endorsed by the NHL board of governors, and there would be no guarantee they would agree to extending the CBA.NHL players participation in the Olympics is currently hung up over the players and owners insistence that the International Olympic Committee and International Ice Hockey Federation pay expenses such as transportation, insurance and accommodations for the Games as they have in the past. There have been questions about how the IOC and IIHF will pay those hefty expenses this time around.Players viewed the leagues proposal to extend the CBA as a way to keep owners in control. Players currently pay 15 percent-plus to escrow and dont recoup a large chunk of that in the current revenue sharing model.Its pretty obvious the owners are pretty happy with the current deal, said Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist.As far as the Olympics, the NHL has until Jan. 15 to come to a decision, Christophe Dubi, the IOCs executive director of the Olympic Games, told the Associated Press.Everyone wants to play at that level and its just about doing it the right way, in a way that benefits everyone, said Buffalo Sabres rep Marcus Foligno. Right now its not coming to terms but we know if we keep working out some little things, some small details, well go to the Olympics.The sides will continue to discuss the NHL players Olympic participation, but in no way did the PA want to extend the current CBA past the Sept. 15, 2022, expiration. The current CBA was ratified by the NHLPA on Jan. 12, 2013, after a four-month lockout.There were some things in the CBA that we wanted to fix. We came back a little bit too soon with just wanting to play and there are some things in the CBA that looking back at it we wish we wouldve changed, so when [extending the CBA] was brought up, when the CBA is up there are some things we want to change, so thats why we dont want to extend it right now, Foligno said. Its their way of trying to extend something by dangling something in our face, and we understand that. Right now its about talking with our group and making sure its reasonable for everyone.Lundqvist won an Olympic gold medal with Team Sweden in 2006 and a silver medal in 2014.The Olympics is still a big platform for us to grow the game and expose the game to new fans, he said. Even though its in Asia, the time difference and all that, its a big market for the league, for hockey in general to grow. I hope to see NHL players in the Olympics. . Listen to the game live on TSN Radio 1050 at 7pm et. The Raptors traded Rudy Gay, Quincy Acy and Aaron Gray to the Sacramento Kings on Monday, in exchange for Greivis Vasquez, John Salmons, Patrick Patterson and Chuck Hayes. . In taking its goal tally to 99 in all competitions already this season, City delivered another demonstration of its lethal firepower at Etihad Stadium to set up a fourth-round match at home to another second-tier team -- Watford. . Anthony Calvillo, through 20 CFL seasons, was frequently invincible and largely stoic in the heat of competition. But underneath the professional exterior he was, and is, compellingly human. . -- If Henry Burris has his way, he will be the starting quarterback to lead the Hamilton Tiger-Cats back to the Grey Cup next year. . -- Arizona knocked off some quality opponents, rolled over a few overmatched ones and grinded out victories even when things didnt go so well. Update: Valve has responded to requests to clarify its new rules regarding coaching. From the post: It was important to make a decision before teams further invested in coach IGLs [in-game leaders] and we decided to rein in the role of coaching in the next Major to exclude player responsibilities. Original story continues below.ESL notified multiple top Counter-Strike teams via email on Wednesday about an imminent rule change to Valve-sponsored Counter-Strike: Global Offensive events that will limit a teams communication with its in-game coach, according to a report from Counter-Strike news site HLTV.In addition, ESL will reportedly adopt this rule indefinitely for its offline events.With the change, Valve will only allow coaches to communicate with the team during warm-up, halftime and during one of four 30-second timeouts available to each team. Currently, coaches are allowed to be an active part of the game throughout the match, often times controlling and dictating positions and strategies to their players, akin to the traditional role of an in-game leader.The email, written by Counter-Strike level designer and Valve developer Ido Magal, states that Valve believes coaches effectively defeat the purpose of the game. Magal states that the company wants the five best Counter-Sttrike players to win the game via their own skill, not that of a sixth member contributing to their game strategy.ddddddddddddActivities such as keeping track of the economy, calling plays, and general situational awareness are important components of CS gameplay, he states. If a person is performing these actions, we consider them a player.While ESL has reportedly adopted this rule already, Magal says that other third-party organizers will not be forced to abide by it. However, if those organizers want to stay in consideration to host one of Counter-Strike: Global Offensives majors -- the largest events within the scene that only occur a few times a year -- they will need to enact the rule themselves.Other organizers include ESLs sister company DreamHack; Turner and WME|IMGs televised event ELeague; British Counter-Strike company FACEIT; and American tournament organizers Major League Gaming and CEVO. Two of these companies, excluding ESL, that have hosted major events are Major League Gaming and DreamHack.While yet to be announced, HLTV reports that the next major event will occur in January with no specified tournament organizer or date named yet. ' ' '
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