The NHL would be stupid not to go to the Olympics again.
The Olympics grow the game in the states and the NHL can't afford to be lazy about doing that. I can't tell you how many people I know who weren't interested in hockey at all until a few days ago. Iv'e heard something like "I don't usually watch hockey but that US/Russia game was incredible" more than a dozen times. People who can't even name the NHL team in St. Louis know who TJ Oshie is now and ask what team he's on, how old he is, how he's done in the past. That's a big deal for the NHL. If they're smart they'll realize that. However, I've seen very little to lead me to the conclusion that the league is smart.
As for the NHL organizing something somewhat similar themselves, they're terrible at event production. Always picking awful musical acts and other cringe inducing setups. The Olympics are the olympics. They're a time honored tradition across the entire world. It's an event where, for the most part, people put aside their differences in order to engage in solid competition. There is literally nothing the NHL can do to make whatever BS event they want all the money from live up to that. Further, even if there was something they could do, they'd likely fail at it and end up with the Backstreet Boys playing some tournament nobody has ever heard of and nobody who doesn't already watch the NHL cares about. The Olympics has history that cannot be duplicated, especially in ice hockey, and especially in the states, where the NHL should be concerned with growing the game. Yeah, miracle was a long time ago and many of those people are already fans, but apparently it still has value, even to people who were too young to see it. Nobody cared when the US beat anybody else, but everyone and their mother can recap the Russia game suddenly.
Plus, I'd imagine that if US, Russia or Canada win gold, those players next tournament aren't going to be too happy about not defending their title so that the NHL can make a few more dollars. The fact that they've traveled across the world to play in an event that has nothing to do with the pay should be proof of the importance of representing their nation in this specific event.
Lastly, it's a smack in the face to the Olympics for the NHL to even pull these threats. The NHL is in no position to take this tone with such a huge event. Obviously, I'm a big fan of the product the league puts out more often than not, but it's far from a well oiled machine, and it's far from being as popular as it can be. The Olympics are, have been, and will be, bigger than the NHL and more important than the NHL to almost everyone aside from a minority of hardcore NHL fans and the guys in the boardrooms who are suddenly calling for their piece of this pie. After the way they acted last year in particular, I'd rather see them go hungry and see all of us continue to watch incredible Olympic hockey. This league has boned the fans for some pocket change enough already. At least then they were ruining their own product. I don't think they should try to ruin the Olympics for the same reasons. Frankly, I think it's disgusting that they're even considering it.
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