The National Hockey League (NHL) is the largest ice hockey league in North America, and is considered by many to be the greatest ice hockey league in the history of the sport. Its teams are located in Canada and the US, but its players hail from across the ice-hockey-playing world.
Today, the owners of the NHL teams decided to ban all NHL players from competing in the 2018 Winter Olympic Games. Why, you ask? Because the owners would have to shut down the season for 3 weeks (even though it's already something like 7 months long) and have to forgo all that revenue, they decided it would be better to effectively remove men's ice hockey from the olympics.
Could this be a good thing?
Most of the top male ice hockey players in the world play in the NHL, and this means that Men's Olympic Hockey in 2018 will be sort of a weird second-string affair. What will this look like? Well, the US has a pretty strong college ice hockey scene, so I suspect this will open the door for amateurs to compete in the Olympics. Also I assume there are strong leagues in Europe and Asia, and as long as their owners don't make the same decision as those of the NHL, any players in those leagues will be able to compete unhindered in the Olympics.
I am sick of the NHL and their politics. They are the worst league and hate their fans. I have been a long time Vancouver Canucks fan since I was a kid. All I watch is Football now. - I see a future where American Football is played on a global scale. It is already gaining traction in China and Europe.
NHL players weren't allowed to compete until 1998. When the U.S. beat the U.S.S.R. at Lake Placid in 1980...all amateurs, no NHL players.
True. I thought of that as I was writing - could cause some intriguing dynamics.
its unfortunate the the NHL waits until so late to make a decision on going. Great opportunity for other Canadian players to make an impact ....
Let's hope that Canada and USA can get the retired players to the Olympics. Still, it seems that Russia will dominate the tournament. Also, Finland and Sweden are hard to win in a bigger rink.