SEATTLE (AP) — Commissioner Gary Bettman says the NHL schedule will include a break for the 2022 Winter Olympics even though there is no commitment the league's players will go to Beijing.

Last month during the Stanley Cup Final, Bettman cast doubt on whether the league would participate, citing safety and logistical concerns as well as a tightening time frame.

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The schedule will be released on Thursday and will have built-in mechanisms to adjust should players not take part. NHL players did go to South Korea in 2018 after participating in the previous five dating to 1998.

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