The pause was a complete disgrace and made a mockery of what should have been an international sport with compelling storylines and rivalries. International hockey, crazy enough, is more interesting than international basketball which is far easier to pick-up - even if the depth of basketball is better, it's really not that interesting when USA has a 95% chance of a Gold every real tournament.
While it was nice for the Asian nations to get a try in 2018 and 2022, we might have avoided a 12 year gap were they held in Europe or North America. Now with the next three, potentially FOUR Olympics on NHL-friendly territory if the Swiss bid in 2038 is to be believed. It's quite likely the NHL will be there for all four of them.