Olympics: NHL participation in the 2022 Olympics

[WarriorofTime]

I agree. I enjoyed the 2018 Olympics, even though the USA fizzled out. Would I have enjoyed it more if NHL players were there? Absolutely. However, I tuned in anyway, and that's all NBC cared about it. It's the fans who didn't bother watching because of the lack of NHL players they want to get back for 2022. I am not their target, because I'm a diehard who's going to watch anyway. My opinion doesn't matter to them.

It matters a lot when it's in a far away timezone so the games aren't played live primetime in U.S./Canadian markets. A lot less people will tune in and generate excitement.

 

[Mestaruus]

It would really suck for this generation of the best ice hockey players if NHL players at the 2022 wouldn't happen. I'm glad to see that it seems very likely to happen now though. Plan B would be setting up a World Cup tournament really quickly, 2022 fall or 2023 fall.

 

[WarriorofTime]

It would really suck for this generation of the best ice hockey players if NHL players at the 2022 wouldn't happen. I'm glad to see that it seems very likely to happen now though. Plan B would be setting up a World Cup tournament really quickly, 2022 fall or 2023 fall.

The World Cup was a disaster. I imagine a lot of players would boycott it.

 

[Yakushev72]

I think the NHL should go, their revenues have grown but their cultural footprint has been shrinking in America for years now. I think that's why they prioritized going back to ESPN for the exposure, and I think having their stars on the world stage matters in a ton of ways beyond tv ratings. There are iconic olympic hockey moments that create lifetime hockey fans (Miracle on ice, Forsberg goal, Crosby OT winner etc).

Hard to produce iconic classics like Lake Placid when all of the participants make $10 million per year and are expected to produce iconic play. National team interest in countries outside of Canada has really fallen off in recent years, and the players I sense really don't want to go through everything that is required of them to go halfway around the world to Beijing with little chance of a happy face at the end. There is no noticeable pressure on the NHL whatsoever to commit to playing.

 

[Poppy Whoa Sonnet]

Hard to produce iconic classics like Lake Placid when all of the participants make $10 million per year and are expected to produce iconic play. National team interest in countries outside of Canada has really fallen off in recent years, and the players I sense really don't want to go through everything that is required of them to go halfway around the world to Beijing with little chance of a happy face at the end. There is no noticeable pressure on the NHL whatsoever to commit to playing.

Dream team (Basketball) is pretty iconic in America. These countries just love winners, and putting an NHLer's face to a gold medal would be good for marketing. I think the NHL should basically send their players and root for Canada to not win gold. If the US team wins gold that would be an incredible result for them I think.

The players don't have to agree to go you know. If they aren't interested just don't accept the invitation. Ultimately if the NHL doesn't make it work it's due to greed, myopic reasoning, or sheer terror at a career ending injury.

 

[JackSlater]

Hard to produce iconic classics like Lake Placid when all of the participants make $10 million per year and are expected to produce iconic play. National team interest in countries outside of Canada has really fallen off in recent years, and the players I sense really don't want to go through everything that is required of them to go halfway around the world to Beijing with little chance of a happy face at the end. There is no noticeable pressure on the NHL whatsoever to commit to playing.

The players are the ones pushing it. The NHL doesn't care what the IIHF or the IOC want but it does have to negotiate with the NHLPA.

 

[garbageteam]

If the players weren't interested this whole discussion is DOA. It's nowhere near as prestigious as being called up to rep your country in international soccer (barely anyone ever turns those down for a top 20-30 nation) but I think a lot of them take it quite seriously in hockey, which is why it's even on the table.

 

[JoeCool16]

The World Cup was a disaster. I imagine a lot of players would boycott it.

Wasn't it a contractual obligation to play in the World Cup?

 

[WarriorofTime]

Wasn't it a contractual obligation to play in the World Cup?

Yeah but they can negotiate against it. It's a needless risk to injury for the players. You could tell how pissed McDavid was last time that the NHL was forcing him to play on some gimmick team.

 

[ORRFForever]

The World Cup was a disaster.

It was?

 

[Gold Standard]

It was?

based on what the NHL's expectations were, financially, the level to which they could gouge the Canadian hockey fan, the tournament fell far short of that. As for the caliber of the hockey? Can't really say as I didn't waste a minute watching it. I don't watch gimmicky tournaments pretending to be a best on best international tournament. The only thing I saw of that tournament were some YouTube highlights 6 months later.

 

[JackSlater]

The NHL's 2016 world cup was a bad joke that is thankfully well behind us. Hopefully the 2022 Olympic tournament will actually have value and remove the bad taste of 2016 and 2018.

 

[Yakushev72]

The players are the ones pushing it. The NHL doesn't care what the IIHF or the IOC want but it does have to negotiate with the NHLPA.

I don't know the details of what you are saying, but I assume that a large part of the revenue for NHL Olympic participation goes directly to the NHLPA bank account. And then there is the matter of the ninety plus percent of NHL players who get the luxury of a 3-week Caribbean beach vacation right in the middle of the season while the small few are off fighting for Olympic medals. Yes, the NHL has to negotiate with the NHLPA, but if the players don't get their way, what are they going to do? Transfer to the KHL? Play the next couple of seasons for Kunlun in Manchuria?

Canadians sense an easy path to a Gold Medal, with no real opposition in their path. But the NHL already has maximum support from Canada locked up. I see no interest anywhere else on the globe that would really press them to do everything that it takes to shut down the league for 3 weeks mid-season.

 

[JackSlater]

I don't know the details of what you are saying, but I assume that a large part of the revenue for NHL Olympic participation goes directly to the NHLPA bank account. And then there is the matter of the ninety plus percent of NHL players who get the luxury of a 3-week Caribbean beach vacation right in the middle of the season while the small few are off fighting for Olympic medals. Yes, the NHL has to negotiate with the NHLPA, but if the players don't get their way, what are they going to do? Transfer to the KHL? Play the next couple of seasons for Kunlun in Manchuria?

Canadians sense an easy path to a Gold Medal, with no real opposition in their path. But the NHL already has maximum support from Canada locked up. I see no interest anywhere else on the globe that would really press them to do everything that it takes to shut down the league for 3 weeks mid-season.

No, the NHL doesn't get paid for going. Player accounts and media reports consistently highlight that the players, in a large majority of cases, want to participate. Some of them get to play in the tournament, while the others enjoy a mid-season break. The owners obviously feel otherwise. Negotiation is a give and take, and the NHL and NHLPA consistently do a poor job of it. It will cost the owners something at the negotiation table to completely pull out of the Olympics, just as it will cost the players something to go.

There's no need to be so grim Yak. Canada will almost certainly have the best team, or at least best roster, at the 2022 Olympics should NHLers participate but it's probably more likely than not that Canada won't win the tournament. That's why they play the games. The NHL would probably enjoy a USA win more than any other outcome but it seems that the league is mostly focused on showing top end hockey in the Chinese market this time.

 

[Czechboy]

It was?

I still wonder who celebrates if Team Rest of Europe beats Canada in that final?lol

What anthem do they play? Who gets to keep the trophy?

It was madness.

At that time, it should've been Slovakia and Switzerland going.

FTR... I was REALLY hoping that the Swiss and Slovak players would've boycotted it. If they create an even bigger team Europe and cut the Czechs then I hope they boycott it too.

I cannot think of another sport that has every done something like that before. And I don't think they did it out grand vision or developign the game. It was a stupid idea and still is.

 

[ORRFForever]

I still wonder who celebrates if Team Rest of Europe beats Canada in that final?lol

What anthem do they play? Who gets to keep the trophy?

It was madness.

At that time, it should've been Slovakia and Switzerland going.

FTR... I was REALLY hoping that the Swiss and Slovak players would've boycotted it. If they create an even bigger team Europe and cut the Czechs then I hope they boycott it too.

I cannot think of another sport that has every done something like that before. And I don't think they did it out grand vision or developign the game. It was a stupid idea and still is.

I loved it.

Would I have loved it as much if Canada had lost? Of course not, but the right team won so... We're all good.

 

[Czechboy]

I loved it.

Would I have loved it as much if Canada had lost? Of course not, but the right team won so... We're all good.

I would've thought it was a shit tourney even if the Czechs won.

A weakened US
A weakened Canada
A fake rest of Europe team

I would've much rathered Canada won a real tournament.

I cannot think of any other sport that has even attempted a format like that. Imagine the Eurocup going on right now but there is U23 team combined of Italian and German players while also creating another team combined of Albania, Estonia, Belarus and Lithuania. You wouldn't even be able to get to a table to make such a suggestion.lol

 

[JackSlater]

I would've thought it was a shit tourney even if the Czechs won.

A weakened US
A weakened Canada
A fake rest of Europe team

I would've much rathered Canada won a real tournament.

I cannot think of any other sport that has even attempted a format like that. Imagine the Eurocup going on right now but there is U23 team combined of Italian and German players while also creating another team combined of Albania, Estonia, Belarus and Lithuania. You wouldn't even be able to get to a table to make such a suggestion.lol

It was completely a shit tournament regardless of Canada 24 and over winning it. A team wins a joke tournament and all it did was win a joke tournament. It's a good thing that the tournament was less successful than the NHL wanted.

I would never expect the NHL players to do anything like boycott the tournament due to a stupid format though. Some of the players even said that they enjoyed it, which I can understand since for many of them they wouldn't have been there otherwise. I did enjoy that McDavid, as bland a quote as there is even in the NHL, said after the tournament that he would not want to be on the Yung Gunz again despite being eligible for it if the tournament took place when scheduled in 2020. I believe I remember Friedman saying that the NHL did not like hearing that.

 

[Mestaruus]

The World Cup was a disaster. I imagine a lot of players would boycott it.

Like many others, I didn't like the young guns of NA & Team Europe things, which you are probably referring to. So if they fix that and bring in 8 real national teams, then it should be a good tournament. A real best on best.

 

[Czechboy]

Like many others, I didn't like the young guns of NA & Team Europe things, which you are probably referring to. So if they fix that and bring in 8 real national teams, then it should be a good tournament. A real best on best.

It's such a simple ask...

Grab the top 8 teams
make 2 pools
Quarters
Semis
Best on best Champion

I mean, I really don't know how they screwed that up.lol

 

[Czechboy]

Canada 24 and over

My blood boils when I see that.lol

Connor has yet to play a best on best for Canada. It's madness.

Plus.. the US juniors and Canadian Juniors are big rivals. Why put them together.. they grow up neck and neck in competition.lol

 

[Urbanskog]

I loved it.

Would I have loved it as much if Canada had lost? Of course not, but the right team won so... We're all good.

You were one of the few. It was a tournament with the sole purpose of cashing on Canadians while the rest of the hockey world essentially ignored it altogether. Even in Canada it wasn't exactly a success.

 

[WarriorofTime]

Like many others, I didn't like the young guns of NA & Team Europe things, which you are probably referring to. So if they fix that and bring in 8 real national teams, then it should be a good tournament. A real best on best.

Needs to have a real qualifying process as well

 

[Mestaruus]

It's such a simple ask...

Grab the top 8 teams
make 2 pools
Quarters
Semis
Best on best Champion

I mean, I really don't know how they screwed that up.lol

Very true.

 

[WarriorofTime]

It was?

Absolutely. It was a gimmick cash grab with no history, qualification or legitimacy behind it that included fake teams and players that didn’t want to participate. It flopped financially as well. My guess is they will never do it again and that increases the pressure on the nhl to release players for the Olympics.