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AHL will allow players on minor-league deals to go to Olympics

Stefan Rousseau - PA Images / PA Images / Getty

Players on American Hockey League contracts will be eligible to play in the 2018 Winter Olympics.

President and CEO David Andrews confirmed through a league spokesman Wednesday that teams were informed they could loan players on AHL contracts to national teams for the purposes of participating in the Pyeongchang Olympics. The AHL sent a memo to its 30 clubs saying players could only be loaned for Olympic participation from Feb. 5-26.

The Olympic men's hockey tournament runs from Feb. 9-25. Like the NHL, which is not having its players participate for the first time since 1994, the AHL does not have an Olympic break in its schedule.

The AHL's decision does not affect players assigned to that league on NHL contracts. No final decision has been made about those players.

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Follow Hockey Writer Stephen Whyno on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/SWhyno .

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More AP NHL: www.apnews.com/tag/NHLhockey

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