Bettman Floats The Idea Of Ice Hockey At Summer Olympics?

[24 others]

So the biggest sports event in the world, one whose legacy goes beyond sports, should adjust to a schedule of a particular league of a regionally relevant sport?

I am an NHL fan, of course, but you know - they used to interrupt wars during Olympics. Like, wars.

 

[solidprospect]

Actually seems like a really good idea.

 

[Suntouchable13]

Ice does not belong in summer Olympics. Sorry, I just don't think you can be flexible with this.

 

[SotasicA]

they used to interrupt wars during Olympics. Like, wars.

Who, and when?

 

[Osprey]

Why not swap some other sports while we're at it?

* Rowing and kayaking on frozen lakes
* Slalom skiing on grassy hills
* Beach volleyball in the snow
* Cycling and weightlifting on ice
* Kenyans wearing their body weights in insulating outerwear while running the marathon in sub-freezing temperatures
* Usain Bolt defending his Olympic gold by running the 100m on the speed skating rink

 

[Mikeshane]

That would actually be great, the only thing I wonder about is if all the summer host cities would have proper facilities for playing hockey in the hot summer heat.

I could care less if hockey is a "natural" fit for the summer games, cell phones aren't natural either.

 

[ADTH89]

Field hockey is already in the summer Olympics.

 

[leafsfuture]

That would actually be great, the only thing I wonder about is if all the summer host cities would have proper facilities for playing hockey in the hot summer heat.

I could care less if hockey is a "natural" fit for the summer games, cell phones aren't natural either.

This would be the issue.

The next three Summer host cities would pose no issue - Tokyo, Paris or LA, but anywhere in South America, southern Europe or potentially the Middle East wouldnt make sense.

The NHLPA just needs to work Olympic participation into the CBA and force the NHL owners to shut down the league

 

[Terry Yake]

god bettman is such a moron

 

[karnige]

This would be the issue.

The next three Summer host cities would pose no issue - Tokyo, Paris or LA, but anywhere in South America, southern Europe or potentially the Middle East wouldnt make sense.

The NHLPA just needs to work Olympic participation into the CBA and force the NHL owners to shut down the league

nhl is a business. shutting down the league isn't good business. also risks of injury. imo summer would be a great idea

 

[Spartachat]

This is from the guy who brought us hockey in the desert, the glowing puck, Team Europe, and fan voting for the All-Star Game.

 

[Narow]

Why not swap some other sports while we're at it?

* Rowing and kayaking on frozen lakes
* Slalom skiing on grassy hills
* Beach volleyball in the snow
* Cycling and weightlifting on ice
* Kenyans wearing their body weights in insulating outerwear while running the marathon in sub-freezing temperatures
* Usain Bolt defending his Olympic gold by running the 100m on the speed skating rink

I want to watch atleast half of those.

 

[razor8]

Sorry, I did not get this. Sarcasm or some kind of inside joke?

This is still unanswered! Please give me an answer so I can go to sleep!

 

[Future GOAT]

This is from the guy who brought us hockey in the desert, the glowing puck, Team Europe, and fan voting for the All-Star Game.

Hey if it wasn't for Bettman maybe Auston Matthews would be a baseball player with Spondylolysis or an ACL injury right now instead of a hockey player with a shoulder injury.

Remember, hockey in the desert is what got Matthews into it.

 

[McVespa99]

I'm honestly wondering how the NHL (and especially the owners, who seem to be involved in thoughts like that) got the idea that the olympic community has to cater to them? Do they think hockey fans and hockey organizations around the world are blaming the IOC for games without NHL players? Let me give you a hint: no, not at all. Either they blame the NHL or they don't care, which is understandable as suddenly the playing field is more even. In the near future I don't see why the IOC would reach out to the NHL in any form. And, as others have said, the next games are already planned, and usually there are no ice rinks involved.

Don't get me wrong: The IOC is an even more dubious organization than the NHL, but that doesn't give the NHL any right to demand stuff like that. Hockey is an integral part of the winter olympics, and it would hurt the winter games a lot more than it would benefit the summer games, if there would be a benefit at all. In summer, hockey would just be one minor sport with huge costs, in winter, it's one of the highlights. Why would the IOC change that?

Im going to guess they will because the ratings were way down this time and hockey was part of the reason.

 

[WaveRaven]

I wish Elon Musk had put Bettman in that Tesla he rocketed into space

 

[Butch 19]

That would actually be great, the only thing I wonder about is if all the summer host cities would have proper facilities for playing hockey in the hot summer heat.

So you don't think that Paris, Tokyo and L.A. have figured out summer air conditioning?

 

[Gunnersaurus Rex]

He knows it's played on ice right? Get real Gary.

You know that it's played indoors in arenas, right? About 30% of the NHL teams are in "summer" climates all year. I actually don't mind the idea.

 

[YEM]

Perhaps they should just move the NHL to the summer-march through october, they won't have to compete w basketball/football/college sports & then the Olympics is no prob!

 

[Gunnersaurus Rex]

Name one country in the southern hemisphere that has any kind of ice hockey presence anywhere ever.

Why does that matter? How is Wrestling, Badminton, Fencing, Gymnastics, etc a summer sport per se? They all take place indoors as well.

 

[mjlee]

This won't happen, primarily because of logistics and above all costs. Building new facilities is already spinning way out of control and to demand a host build two new arenas - or modifiy it to suit hockey costs way too much. Especially for a sport that few hosts have any interest in. It just doesn't make sense.

What these games has shown us is that NHL doesn't need OG and frankly IOC doesn't need the NHL. The tournament couldn't have worked out better for the IOC. There was the German cinderella run, and Germany is a major advertising and sponsor market where hockey abruptly doubled or trebled its profile - the Women's x-country was going on at the same time and you could hear a sudden cheering in the background and the Swedish commentators laughing over the German commentators.

Then you had Russias first ever gold medal in hockey. All you need to do is read Dats quote to realise how much it meant to him, the team and the Russian people.

I think it's already been established that European viewing numbers won't change much, NHL or no NHL as long as there is hockey. So that leaves the US and Canada. The difference in American vewiership is probably neglible, since as the NHL itself has said, there is no effect of the NHL going to the olympic games. That leaves Canada. Possibly there were fewer Canadian viewers because of the lack of the NHL. But Canada just had its most successful olympics ever. General Canadian fans I believe watched the hockey tournament until Canada went out.

Hockey's been (with the excption of the first olympics in 1920) an olympic winter sport since 1924. NHL began taking part in 1998 in Nagano. Olympic hockey survived before, even flourished, and it will continue to do so even without the NHL.

 

[Calendal]

So the biggest sports event in the world, one whose legacy goes beyond sports, should adjust to a schedule of a particular league of a regionally relevant sport?

I am an NHL fan, of course, but you know - they used to interrupt wars during Olympics. Like, wars.

I would argue that FIFA world cup is bigger than Olympics but ofc it depends on measure. It’s held when no major league is playing.

 

[coolboarder]

Hockey totally is a summer sport
Yeah, totally.

Stanley Cup Final is being held too close to summer.

 

[Frosty415]

Bettman is a joke

He's such a joke he has kept this league alive and brought back your franchise.

 

[No Fun Shogun]

Bad idea for two reasons:

1) Do you really want to cut into the recovery/resting time of the most elite players every four years?
2) How many Summer Olympics destinations are really going to be good host venues or interested in building ice arenas?