News Article: NHL Will Not Send Players to Olympics

[KINGS17]

NHL skipping Olympics because of COVID surge

"Our focus and goal have been and must remain to responsibly and safely complete the entirety of the NHL regular season and Stanley Cup Playoffs in a timely manner. Therefore, with stringent health protocols once again in place, we will begin utilizing available dates during the Feb. 6-22 window (originally contemplated to accommodate Olympic participation) to reschedule games that have been, or may yet be, postponed," Bettman said in his statement.

Click to read more...

 

[tny760]

kind of a shame but it sounds justified if they had a contracted "out" if the NHL season was messed up, which it clearly has

hopefully they can make up most of those postponed games during the break so at least we can watch some hockey

 

[SaltyElkHunter]

They should not be going because China is a modern day nazi Germany. They are just bigger, have nukes, and produce a ton of the worlds goods.

 

[Fishhead]

They should not be going because China is a modern day nazi Germany. They are just bigger, have nukes, and produce a ton of the worlds goods.

As someone of German descent whose family was strongly affected in WW2 by that regime, I can tell you with certainty this is 100% not even in the same ballpark.

 

[BigBrown]

I was really looking forward to it and to me it's easily the highlight of the Winter Olympics so this sucks.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

Wonder if Drew Doughty stays good.

 

[KINGS17]

I think this was inevitable once the CCP said they would quarantine in China any athlete testing positive for covid for 3-5 weeks.

Additionally, we have no idea what type of variants they are experiencing in China due to the CCP's lack of honesty on the entire subject.

 

[aceofpace]

I said this on the general board, but the NHL's real mistake was not going to Pyeongchang in 2018. It will now be at least 12 years before NHLers can participate in the Olympics.

 

[apocalypse]

The NHL has to deal with Covid, the Olympics, and the All Star game. Makes sense to nix the Olympics. Gonna be hard enough to make up for games cause of Covid.

 

[ru4reals]

The NHL has to deal with Covid, the Olympics, and the All Star game. Makes sense to nix the Olympics. Gonna be hard enough to make up for games cause of Covid.

Yeah I'm not sure how they're gonna make up all these games. More cancellation is just going to happen. F*** covid damn. Hockey is then only sport I watch too.

 

[KINGS17]

Yeah I'm not sure how they're gonna make up all these games. More cancellation is just going to happen. F*** covid dman. Hockey is then only sport I watch too.

You're not going to watch the 10 NBA games being played on Christmas Day?

 

[SaltyElkHunter]

As someone of German descent whose family was strongly affected in WW2 by that regime, I can tell you with certainty this is 100% not even in the same ballpark.

Torture, cover-ups in China’s camps for Uighurs revealed in new report

Maybe they are not in the same car but they are on the same freeway.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

Yeah I'm not sure how they're gonna make up all these games. More cancellation is just going to happen. F*** covid dman. Hockey is then only sport I watch too.

A lot of them are being scheduled during the aforementioned break, I'm sure others will have to be tabled until the end of the regular season depending on how the next couple of weeks look.

 

[Schrute farms]

i have to be honest, i'm not much of a big fan of the hockey pro Olympic games. Add to it being in China, not to mention the time differences for games, and it all adds up to me not giving a crap about this cancellation. Using this period to play cancelled CV King/NHL games is even better.

I'm MUCH more interested in the W JCs. It appears those are a go...i assume/guess.

 

[KopitarFAN]

i have to be honest, i'm not much of a big fan of the hockey pro Olympic games. Add to it being in China, not to mention the time differences for games, and it all adds up to me not giving a crap about this cancellation. Using this period to play cancelled CV King/NHL games is even better.

I'm MUCH more interested in the WJCs. It appears those are a go...i assume/guess.

Same.

I'm just not interested in watching games at 3am, through my fingers for fear of seeing someone get hurt.

 

[kingsboy11]

After being heartbroken in the 2010 gold medal game I've only ever wanted to Canada in the Olympics in a best on best game. I was so looking forward to this year and I really wanted Doughty to make to stick it to all the doubters. The Olympics just isn't the same without NHL players and the World Cup just isn't the same.

I understand the decision to pull out and its the right thing to do, but you can't help but be disappointed knowing that they were going to go this year if everything was normal.

 

[KopitarFAN]

Frankly, I hope they don't go in 2026 either, selfishly, I'd rather they not go unless the games are in North America.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

I'm only disappointed that it's been what, almost decade since a world best-on-best?

No matter what it is...we're missing out on a generation of McDavid vs. Matthews etc.

Some of my fondest hockey memories are watching a shootout at 3am with my dad with Hasek vs. Roy...just storybook stuff.

 

[apocalypse]

That's cool. I'd like to see minor league guys and maybe some junior guys play in the Olympics. That'd be interesting.

 

[johnjm22]

The whole thing would be a bit of a mess.

You've got the covid issue, potential social/political issues, games at 3am.

The NHL probably made the right call.