Could the players revolt? (MOD: if no NHL participation in Pyeongchang)

[jj cale]

I don't think that's what Ovechkin is seeking here. He wants to participate in the Olympics because it means a lot to him personally. First, it's the pride of representing his country, no matter what the competition is. Secondly, it's also due to the fact that he is the son of a two-time Olympic gold medallist.

Yes, he always has pride in representing his country, that is something I have always liked about him, Jagr too.

I can't fault him for that.

I didn't know that about his father, learn something new every day.

 

[Alexander the Gr8]

Yes, he always has pride in representing his country, that is something I have always liked about him, Jagr too.

I can't fault him for that.

I didn't know that about his father, learn something new every day.

It's his mother actually. Two-time Olympic gold medallist in basketball for the Soviet Union in 1976 and 1980.

 

[jj cale]

It's his mother actually. Two-time Olympic gold medallist in basketball for the Soviet Union in 1976 and 1980.

Well don't I like like the sexist pig eh?

I naturally assumed it was the dad with the past glory.

Here it is dear old mom with all the medals!!

Yet another thing learned today.

 

[DNA]

If the NHL abandons the 2018 Olympics, I certainly would see a desire for Ovechkin, Kuznetsov, the KHL, Tretiak, and especially Putin, to put together a gold medal victory that eluded them in Sochi, taking Russia back to its 'good old days'!

They never seemed to think their USSR gold medals were tainted. So I'm sure they would see this one as even less so, since ALL players & professionals are technically invited.

I think I'll set aside some cash now to wager a bet on this as soon as the NHL makes it official.

 

[Tuoppi]

Finland will beat Russia in quarterfinals anyway. Should be more even tournament on big ice. The ratings tell which tournaments are important even in Canada. Ratings in Canada: decisive World cup final 2.3 million viewers, 2014 olympic final 8.5m (7am east coast, 4am west coast), 2010 final 16m, 2015 wjc final 6m and even the 2015 World championship final 1,5m. Ratings in USA: World cup USA-Canada 766000 and 2010 olympic final 28m.

 

[Conspiracy Theorist]

Maybe Tolvanen will make the Olympic team if NHL won't participate. I'd watch it regardless and rate it above this world cup.

 

[BruinLVGA]

I have not seen any corruption charges being leveled at bettmans feet yet but if you want to put a guy with a so far clean record in with the shenanigans that the I.O.C have been involved in just because you don't like that he is the messenger man for the nhl owners not wanting to go to the precious olympics or organizing a gimmicky world cup then there is nothing i can do to stop you.


It does not change a thing in regards to the value of an olympic gold medal in hockey if the best players are not competing.

I don't see any naivete there.

The so-called corruption is a side note anyway, because whatever those IOC folks do on the $$$ side of things, it doesn't impact how a player or team plays. I am sure that you know that well. You are trying to use that to deflect attention from the real thing (= Olympics is the greatest competition in the whole world).

Again, if you think that Bettman & Co are angelic figures who would never even dare to think about being involved in some greasing here and there, which is what the allegations against people within the IOC are, you are being naive here. Where there's a great deal of money, there's always someone who tries to grab a chunk of it. Let's not pretend that the world is a pure white fairy land. That's very naive.

In any case, as I already said, when athletes compete in a competition, all this bla bla about kickbacks and bribes among officials & nations to attribute an event, counts a grand zero in the competition itself. There's zero correlation.

 

[BruinLVGA]

It would be a PR disaster for the Caps if they go against their best player. It could scare away players from playing in the NHL during Olympic year. To most Europeans the Olympics is seen as the highest achievement. I don't get why only in NA we have this weird view of the Olympics.



I was never a fan of soccer growing up, but when I got caught up in the World Cup hype in 2010, I became a fan. If people don't watch hockey they will never get that opportunity to get hooked. Only hockey fans watch the WCH whereas everyone watches the Olympics.

Great post, greatest parts are those bolded.

 

[JackSlater]

No doubt, they are all pro olympics no matter the scandals nor the level of competition. It is quite interesting to witness such a religious like devotion to it despite it's faults and failings.

Nevertheless, no NHL players= no claim to being the worlds best. Their attitude towards the olympics cannot change that reality.

If the NHL doesn't go, you can expect to see some very interesting spin from fans of whatever team wins. I predict claims that "an Olympic gold is an Olympic gold, no matter who plays". Basically an attempt to equate that win with Olympic wins from the past five tournaments. Hopefully we don't have a chance to see.

 

[jj cale]

The so-called corruption is a side note anyway, because whatever those IOC folks do on the $$$ side of things, it doesn't impact how a player or team plays. I am sure that you know that well. You are trying to use that to deflect attention from the real thing (= Olympics is the greatest competition in the whole world).

Again, if you think that Bettman & Co are angelic figures who would never even dare to think about being involved in some greasing here and there, which is what the allegations against people within the IOC are, you are being naive here. Where there's a great deal of money, there's always someone who tries to grab a chunk of it. Let's not pretend that the world is a pure white fairy land. That's very naive.

In any case, as I already said, when athletes compete in a competition, all this bla bla about kickbacks and bribes among officials & nations to attribute an event, counts a grand zero in the competition itself. There's zero correlation.

I never said the I.O.C's corruption impacted the value of a gold medal in hockey without nhl players involved.All that means is that there is some ******** in that organization so we should all stop looking at it like it is this white as snow entity that is totally beyond reproach and should be automatically respected by every living creature on earth because it is not.

I said that if there are no or few NHL players at the olympics it greatly impacted the value of an olympic hockey gold medal.

Which it does no matter how hard you are trying to spin it otherwise.

What is wrong with you on this subject? if someone who was ranked as the 15th best decathalete going into an olympics and suddenly the top ten ranked guys ahead of him do not go to the olympics for whatever reason and then this 15th ranked guy wins gold do you seriously think his gold medal would have the same value as it would if he had beat the top ten guys in the sport?

Do you have a family member or someone close to you who works for the I.O.C or something?.

Your continued insistence that olympic gold in hockey without the best players playing is still as valuable as it is when the best players are all playing is off the wall. You will never convince me or anyone else with common sense that it is. Please, don't waste anymore of your time.

 

[jj cale]

If the NHL doesn't go, you can expect to see some very interesting spin from fans of whatever team wins. I predict claims that "an Olympic gold is an Olympic gold, no matter who plays". Basically an attempt to equate that win with Olympic wins from the past five tournaments. Hopefully we don't have a chance to see.

That is exactly what you will get, you are bang on. I am dreading even now of having to hear that nonsense.

I agree, let's avoid that nightmare and get the best players there, the NHL players.

 

[Murky]

No doubt, they are all pro olympics no matter the scandals nor the level of competition. It is quite interesting to witness such a religious like devotion to it despite it's faults and failings.

A bit condescending there, aren't you?

I don't think it is very hard to separate the IOC and the actual sporting event.

 

[jj cale]

The so-called corruption is a side note anyway

And no, it is not "so called corruption"

It is very much real.

http://www.flotrack.org/article/44257-the-ioc-s-true-ideals-corruption-and-greed

 

[Gary Nylund]

Almost none of them would be pissed, we already discussed that matter internally. The fans support Ovechkin and NHL participation at the next Olympics. It's more than just approving Ovechkin's willingness to go to the Olympics, we encourage him to go.

The teammates already know Ovechkin's intentions, and none of them complained so far. Ovechkin dragged the Capitals to the playoffs single-handedly many times, he's earned the two week break he'll be getting in Feb 2018. The Capitals will most likely be comfortably locked into a playoff spot, as they were last year at that time of the year.

Wow that's very interesting (and surprising). I had no idea, thanks for enlightening me.

 

[BruinLVGA]

I never said the I.O.C's corruption impacted the value of a gold medal in hockey without nhl players involved.All that means is that there is some ******** in that organization so we should all stop looking at it like it is this white as snow entity that is totally beyond reproach and should be automatically respected by every living creature on earth because it is not.

I said that if there are no or few NHL players at the olympics it greatly impacted the value of an olympic hockey gold medal.

Which it does no matter how hard you are trying to spin it otherwise.

What is wrong with you on this subject? if someone who was ranked as the 15th best decathalete going into an olympics and suddenly the top ten ranked guys ahead of him do not go to the olympics for whatever reason and then this 15th ranked guy wins gold do you seriously think his gold medal would have the same value as it would if he had beat the top ten guys in the sport?

Do you have a family member or someone close to you who works for the I.O.C or something?.

Your continued insistence that olympic gold in hockey without the best players playing is still as valuable as it is when the best players are all playing is off the wall. You will never convince me or anyone else with common sense that it is. Please, don't waste anymore of your time.

Who. Cares. About. The. Committee (or whoever else). Organizing. The. Competition. It's all about the athletes and how they compete meaning their performance at the event, NOT the process of how a venue was chosen. How can you fail to grasp that? What is so difficult to understand?

Rankings mean diddly squat until someone actually medals or wins it all. Plenty of top ranked teams/athletes who failed and plenty of not that well ranked teams/athletes who did magnificently well. Do you need examples? In that case, it will be a long read.
The fact is that everyone is welcome to the Olympics. If one doesn't want to participate or is not allowed to participate by a third party like the NHL (which in itself it's outrageous: they're a regional league, they should not have any influence on international play), it is a burden that it's not on the tournament itself.

Convince you? Who cares. What matters is that pretty much the entire world knows that generally speaking the Olympics is the most important sports event in the world. As such (+ seeing that it is open to everyone), its importance transcends the presence or not of NHL players.

 

[Macman]

Convince you? Who cares. What matters is that pretty much the entire world knows that generally speaking the Olympics is the most important sports event in the world. As such (+ seeing that it is open to everyone), its importance transcends the presence or not of NHL players.

The reason the last five Olympics hockey tournaments have been so compelling was the presence of those NHL players. Take them away and nothing will transcend that, especially a bunch of minor pros, juniors and university kids. I'm sure the folks who only watch hockey during the Olympics won't know or care, but the rest of us will, as will the players, even Ovie.

 

[Seanaconda]

Yes, he always has pride in representing his country, that is something I have always liked about him, Jagr too.

I can't fault him for that.

I didn't know that about his father, learn something new every day.

Jagr retired from international competition

 

[Seanaconda]

Finland will beat Russia in quarterfinals anyway. Should be more even tournament on big ice. The ratings tell which tournaments are important even in Canada. Ratings in Canada: decisive World cup final 2.3 million viewers, 2014 olympic final 8.5m (7am east coast, 4am west coast), 2010 final 16m, 2015 wjc final 6m and even the 2015 World championship final 1,5m. Ratings in USA: World cup USA-Canada 766000 and 2010 olympic final 28m.

Olympics every single channel is Olympics for 2 weeks world cup split time with baseball and football. Easy to get ratings when it's forced on you.

 

[Seanaconda]

Who. Cares. About. The. Committee (or whoever else). Organizing. The. Competition. It's all about the athletes and how they compete meaning their performance at the event, NOT the process of how a venue was chosen. How can you fail to grasp that? What is so difficult to understand?

Rankings mean diddly squat until someone actually medals or wins it all. Plenty of top ranked teams/athletes who failed and plenty of not that well ranked teams/athletes who did magnificently well. Do you need examples? In that case, it will be a long read.
The fact is that everyone is welcome to the Olympics. If one doesn't want to participate or is not allowed to participate by a third party like the NHL (which in itself it's outrageous: they're a regional league, they should not have any influence on international play), it is a burden that it's not on the tournament itself.

Convince you? Who cares. What matters is that pretty much the entire world knows that generally speaking the Olympics is the most important sports event in the world. As such (+ seeing that it is open to everyone), its importance transcends the presence or not of NHL players.

Football the world's biggest sport doesn't let it's players go. The teams aren't required to release them to the Olympics even tho they can only take 3 guys over 23.

 

[Confucius]

Football the world's biggest sport doesn't let it's players go. The teams aren't required to release them to the Olympics even tho they can only take 3 guys over 23.

A good example where the World Cup means much more than Olympic gold.

 

[Tuoppi]

A good example where the World Cup means much more than Olympic gold.

But not in hockey.

 

[Confucius]

But not in hockey.

If the best don't go, it will

 

[Xokkeu]

A good example where the World Cup means much more than Olympic gold.

Might be the only example and that's because the World Cup is almost as old as the Olympics. Plus it's organized by an international body.

 

[jj cale]

Who. Cares. About. The. Committee (or whoever else). Organizing. The. Competition. It's all about the athletes and how they compete meaning their performance at the event, NOT the process of how a venue was chosen. How can you fail to grasp that? What is so difficult to understand?

Rankings mean diddly squat until someone actually medals or wins it all. Plenty of top ranked teams/athletes who failed and plenty of not that well ranked teams/athletes who did magnificently well. Do you need examples? In that case, it will be a long read.
The fact is that everyone is welcome to the Olympics. If one doesn't want to participate or is not allowed to participate by a third party like the NHL (which in itself it's outrageous: they're a regional league, they should not have any influence on international play), it is a burden that it's not on the tournament itself.

Convince you? Who cares. What matters is that pretty much the entire world knows that generally speaking the Olympics is the most important sports event in the world. As such (+ seeing that it is open to everyone), its importance transcends the presence or not of NHL players.

I told you I did not care what the committee of the I.O.C represents in regards to the actual competition itself, have you not read what I have been writing?.

I mentioned the corruption of the I.O.C in regards to this supposed universal respect that you say all human beings have for the olympics as an institition!!

Do you get that this time? hopefully so.

I am not going to have some keyboard wimbledon match with you forever, I have clearly stated why an olympic hockey gold without the best playing has far lesser value then one which includes the best players.

I could not make it any more plain, if you think otherwise I don't know what to tell you. I guess you have very low standards for olympic gold medals and what they are supposed to signify.

you can go on about rankings and whatever other foolishness and dance in the aisles for the next year for all i care. It does not change a thing in regards to the value of a gold medal regarding NHL player participation.

The end.

 

[jj cale]

Jagr retired from international competition

Yes, i am aware and he has earned that right after playing for them so damn much all these years.

The guy is 44 now after all.