News Article: NHL will NOT go to 2018 Olympics in South Korea

[Fenway]

This is not going to sit well with the players. Expect a long lockout in a few years.

http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/nhl-will-not-participate-2018-pyeongchang-olympic-games/

We have previously made clear that, while the overwhelming majority of our Clubs are adamantly opposed to disrupting the 2017-18 NHL season for purposes of accommodating Olympic participation by some NHL players, we were open to hearing from any of the other parties who might have an interest in the issue (e.g., the IOC, the IIHF, the NHLPA) as to reasons the Board of Governors might be interested in re-evaluating their strongly held views on the subject. A number of months have now passed and no meaningful dialogue has materialized. Instead, the IOC has now expressed the position that the NHL’s participation in Beijing in 2022 is conditioned on our participation in South Korea in 2018.

And the NHLPA has now publicly confirmed that it has no interest or intention of engaging in any discussion that might make Olympic participation more attractive to the Clubs. As a result, and in an effort to create clarity among conflicting reports and erroneous speculation, this will confirm our intention to proceed with finalizing our 2017-18 Regular Season schedule without any break to accommodate the Olympic Winter Games. We now consider the matter officially closed.â€

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[KrejciMVP]

will there still be hockey?

 

[Fenway]

will there still be hockey?

Yes, KHL players and other elite leagues in Europe will play.

 

[KrejciMVP]

Yes, KHL players and other elite leagues in Europe will play.

Looks like an easy gold for Russia

 

[smithformeragent]

If this league is dumb enough to endure another labor stoppage, I'm out.

I'll start watching college hockey or something.

What a tone deaf group of owners.
Totally out of touch with regards to what the fans want to see.

 

[KnightofBoston]

I'm good with that, I'd like to see elite level kids playing in these again like the olympics were always meant to be

 

[Fossy21]

I'm good with that, I'd like to see elite level kids playing in these again like the olympics were always meant to be

Except the ones who aren't allowed to go because they're too elite = their clubs won't let them, like the World Juniors

 

[DKH]

will there still be hockey?

Yes the AHL will still operate

 

[PB37]

I don't see what the big deal is.

 

[Donnie Shulzhoffer]

I am fine with them not going. Never liked them in there to begin with.

 

[Beesfan]

Fine, just please no more gimmicky World Cup as some sort of substitute best-on-best tournament.

Maybe the NHL should do the Olympics every other event (e.g. every 8 years).

 

[WhalerTurnedBruin55]

The Olympics have been better than most All-Star games, don't know why/how they couldn't come up with a reasonable solution to appease both sides.

Good Olympic Hockey = Good for Hockey = Good for the NHL

That said, I grew up without the Pro's playing, and it was really neat. But I think this day and age, the Olympics are a much better stage than the WC of Hockey or whatever that was prior to the season. (this year? last year? I don't even remember).

Surely, businessmen from both sides could have come to an agreement. Guess not.

 

[lopey]

I'm good with the league not going. Its crazy to shut the League down for 2 weeks to play in the Olympics. No other pro sport would do this as well

 

[Estlin]

 

[riverhawkey91]

We have previously made clear that, while the overwhelming majority of our Clubs are adamantly opposed to disrupting the 2017-18 NHL season for purposes of accommodating Olympic participation by some NHL players

Don't really care one way or the other whether they go or not, but I'll never understand how the NHL can use arguments like "not willing to disrupt the NHL season" or complain about "shutting down business for 2 weeks" when they JUST added a mandatory week-long break for all teams right around the same time. The Olympic break is practically built into the season already at this point (compressed schedule for ASG and mandatory break) so that's a terrible excuse on their part.

It'll definitely be interesting to see how this effects some of the players like Ovechkin though. I wonder if we'll see a 1-year Russian exodus from the NHL for those games.

 

[WhalerTurnedBruin55]

I'm good with the league not going. Its crazy to shut the League down for 2 weeks to play in the Olympics. No other pro sport would do this as well

NBA - Season not during the Olympics, plus the US team is ridiculously overskilled in comparison.
MLB - Is Baseball even an Olympic sport? *Guess it's coming back in 2020.
NFL - IF it were a sport would any country besides the US be successful?
Soccer/Futbol - Don't know enough about it, but doesn't seem like their pro's do.

That said, Olympic hockey was good hockey. Shame to rob fans of that. World Cup of Hockey just seems like a cheap imitation.

Olympic hockey vs. 2 teams battling that realistically have no chance at making the playoffs?

Most teams can use the break, some of the stars get to go play. Fans get to watch the best of the best play. I'm not even a huge fan of nationalism, but I am a fan of good hockey. The Olympics provide some good intense hockey that's better than some of the mid-season snoozers that we do have to watch.

 

[Bad Puck Bounce]

I personally think it's dumb. Most of my friends and myself gather for the Olympics every year, and this was a time that I could get them interested in hockey. It catches peoples interest, and hockey is a sport along with baseball, that desperately needs new and younger people to be watching.


Sorry this just screams selfishness and stupidity by the owners in my opinion.

You want to grow your damn sport? Make it, and your players seen by more people.

 

[Fenway]

It's pretty simple. Does the Olympics put any money in this man's pocket?

That is the ONLY issue that matters.

 

[Gee Wally]

Doesnt matter to me. Theyre 13 hours ahead of me. So unless the games started at 7:00 am their time I wouldnt watch anyway.

 

[Pia8988]

Should have negotiated it into the CBA. This is on the players as well as ownership.

 

[Bad Puck Bounce]

Assuming this doesn't sit well with the players, keep in mind the date September 15th, 2019. That's the day the NHLPA can trigger a termination of the CBA.

 

[BruinDust]

I personally think it's dumb. Most of my friends and myself gather for the Olympics every year, and this was a time that I could get them interested in hockey. It catches peoples interest, and hockey is a sport along with baseball, that desperately needs new and younger people to be watching.


Sorry this just screams selfishness and stupidity by the owners in my opinion.

You want to grow your damn sport? Make it, and your players seen by more people.

Isn't that the issue?

These guys are businessmen, successful ones. Now after 3 Olympics held outside of North America with NHL player participation, they aren't seeing the growth that justifies the investment. Sochi was OK, but did Torino or Nagano do anything to grow the BRAND of NHL hockey? If they did, it was not much.

Personally I eat, sleep and breath the sport, and yet, there wasn't a chance in hell I was going to stay up late or get up early to watch Olympic hockey featuring NHL players or non-NHL players for that matter, competing in South Korea.

This isn't the end of the hockey world. The Olympic tournament was just fine before the advent of NHL participation. And will be just fine after.

 

[Jorah Marshmont]

I bet some of the higher profile Euro UFA/RFA strongly consider playing in Europe for next season.

Could be sacrificing a year of Radulov/Kuznetsov/Pastrnak/etc. so they don't have a 2 week break in the schedule.

 

[Mione134]

Doesnt matter to me. Theyre 13 hours ahead of me. So unless the games started at 7:00 am their time I wouldnt watch anyway.

Pretty sure NBC negotiated a new deal that will air all the sports live. No more tape delay.

This is a bummer. The Olympics are a fun time.

 

[617Marine]

I remember how I felt watching the 2010 gold medal game, so it sucks. I know everyone wants to blame the owners, but can we address one of the obvious issues here:

They've been incredibly lucky that no one has been seriously injured since 1998, save for Tavares. Imagine if a player suffered a career ending injury in 2018...fans of that team would be crying bloody murder and demanding to know how the NHL could have allowed it to happen.

I don't want to open a can of worms here (owners v. players), but the NHL teams pay a professional salary to their athletes to play in NHL arenas.

Owners are going to take the brunt of this blame, but the IOC deserves it's fair share too.