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Team Canada 2022

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ORRFForever said:
It amazing how things have changed in 25 years.

In the 1990's, it was the NHL begging the Olympics to be included. Now the rolls have reversed.
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Not really. Professionals were allowed to play since 1988 and the NHL skipped 3 tournaments. There was a lot of talk leading up to the 1994 tournament but the NHL didn't go because they basically didn't get around to it.
 
I'm sure that the NHL would prefer USA win just for the sake of getting a few more eyeballs on hockey and stay watching when the NHL resumes, but there's no way it's enough to impact whether the NHL goes to the tournament or not. The talk of the NHL wanting to pull out only intensified after the 2010 Olympics in what was very nearly a dream scenario.

I'd also think that if the NHL had USA winning tournaments as a significant goal, the yung gunz team that weakened USA at the NHL's last world cup wouldn't have existed. Or, at the very least, USA would not have been denied the ability to select players from that pool.
 
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JackSlater said:
Not really. Professionals were allowed to play since 1988 and the NHL skipped 3 tournaments. There was a lot of talk leading up to the 1994 tournament but the NHL didn't go because they basically didn't get around to it.
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I'm going to disagree, JS.

I remember them having this very discussion on Prime Time Sports - years ago. How the NHL needed the Olympics in the 90's and now the Olympics needs the NHL.
 
People are wildly paranoid if they think Canada winning Gold Medals is what is causing Bettman to want to keep NHL players away. It's all about the timing, the pause in the season and the risk of injury. If Ice Hockey were a summer sport, I don't think they'd care as much.
 
Gold Standard said:

Who knows. there are no guarantees in a one game win or go home scenario, but I'd rather lose with my best 25 players, my 22 best players dressed and on the ice, but instead of that we had Draper and Burtuzzi on the ice and Crosby on the beach sipping mai ties. I can live with losing that game. tip your hat to your opponents and move on. '06 wasn't that.
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I still think that keeping Crosby off that team was an omission as he was clearly ready.
 
ORRFForever said:
I'm going to disagree, JS.

I remember them having this very discussion on Prime Time Sports - years ago. How the NHL needed the Olympics in the 90's and now the Olympics needs the NHL.
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You can remember that all that you like, it won't make it accurate. The fact is that the NHL was allowed to enter the Olympics starting in 1988 and just didn't do it. Prior to 1994 they had some discussions surrounding participation but the governors kept delaying the vote and the league just decided to focus on 1998 instead. The NHL and NHLPA were on the same page back then, on that issue at least.

The NHL never needed the Olympics and the Olympics doesn't need the NHL. It would be better if they worked together but neither loses much in the grand scheme of things by spurning the other. Hockey fans could use a best on best tournament but that seems like too much for those boobs to figure out.
 
wetcoast said:
I still think that keeping Crosby off that team was an omission as he was clearly ready.
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yeah, in hindsight definitely should have gone. At that point, he hadn't even played a full season and you worry about locker room rumblings if one of the established vets who is buddies with the other old guard is left off for an 18 year old kid. I think I said it earlier, but not having an 04-05 season made it more difficult to assess who the actual top players were just a couple months into the 05-06 season.
 
WarriorofTime said:
yeah, in hindsight definitely should have gone. At that point, he hadn't even played a full season and you worry about locker room rumblings if one of the established vets who is buddies with the other old guard is left off for an 18 year old kid. I think I said it earlier, but not having an 04-05 season made it more difficult to assess who the actual top players were just a couple months into the 05-06 season.
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He was already dominant with Pittsburg with quite poor support small sample be dammed and the face of the new NHL, just a poor exclusion IMO.
 
Mathieukferland said:
If the USA were clear favourites like Canada is every tournament, the NHL would be going, make no mistake
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The nhl does not care about the game of Ice Hockey globally. And they don't care about the sport. They care about their version of what they believe Hockey is. They work and are only existing to sell their product to american citizens and make money off them and that's why not knowing if the US can win Gold is what they also care about.

buttman only cares about Americans. buttman is an american patriot, it also kills him McDavid is the best player in the world after years of Crosby and that no american is at or will be at a generational level for the foreseeable future.

It's such a shame the best players don't have other leagues to go and the best players are all in the nhl. The game suffers mightily because of this.
 
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habsrule4eva3089 said:
The nhl does not care about the game of Ice Hockey globally. And they don't care about the sport. They care about their version of what they believe Hockey is. They work and are only existing to sell their product to american citizens and make money off them and that's why not knowing if the US can win Gold is what they also care about.

buttman only cares about Americans. buttman is an american patriot, it also kills him McDavid is the best player in the world after years of Crosby and that no american is at or will be at a generational level for the foreseeable future.

It's such a shame the best players don't have other leagues to go and the best players are all in the nhl. The game suffers mightily because of this.
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Bettman wants your Canadian dollars just as much. Put the pipe down.
 
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With the season basically over, here is my updated formation


Bergeron-Crosby-Marchand
Scheifele-McDavid-Huberdeau
Barzal-MacKinnon-Point
Couturier-O’Reilly-Stone
Marner

Theodore-Pietrangelo
Toews-Makar
Ekblad-Hamilton
Chychrun-Chabot

Price
Fleury
Keumper


Changes:
Not too much different from the last time. Stamkos drops out for Barzal, who is moved up to Marner’s old sport to form a light speed line with MacKinnon and Point, which also has some defensive competence. Marner drops to the 13th forward spot after a bang average series against Montréal. No Change on défense assuming everyone is healthy, I would watch out for Weber and Pelech to maybe get a spot, they have been strong this spring. Price gets back the starting role after too many blunders from Fleury, and Keumper’s gold in Latvia assures him a spot out of loyalty from Hockey Canada
 
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The fact that we might not see McDavid in his peak in a best-on-best international event representing Canada is an utter travesty and will tarnish Bettmans legacy.

His attempts to destroy best-on-best hockey won’t be remembered fondly from a historical perspective

Edit: here’s a recent video where McDavid is saying they’re expecting the NHL to make it happen. The league doesn’t care at all about its superstar players though so who knows.

McDavid on NHL Olympic participation: 'We're expecting the league to make that happen'
 
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snipes said:
The fact that we might not see McDavid in his peak in a best-on-best international event representing Canada is an utter travesty and will tarnish Bettmans legacy.

His attempts to destroy best-on-best hockey won’t be remembered fondly from a historical perspective

Edit: here’s a recent video where McDavid is saying they’re expecting the NHL to make it happen. The league doesn’t care at all about its superstar players though so who knows.

McDavid on NHL Olympic participation: 'We're expecting the league to make that happen'
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But hey, as the morons said before the NHL's 2016 tournament - how incredible is it that we can see McDavid and Eichel on the same team? McDavid will get many opportunities with Canada t the Olympics and best on best world cups.
 
JackSlater said:
But hey, as the morons said before the NHL's 2016 tournament - how incredible is it that we can see McDavid and Eichel on the same team? McDavid will get many opportunities with Canada t the Olympics and best on best world cups.
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He’ll be 29 by the time the 2026 Olympics occur and would have never played in a best-on-best for Canada if NHLers don’t go in 2022.

That is nothing short of a hockey travesty if it happens.
 
snipes said:
He’ll be 29 by the time the 2026 Olympics occur and would have never played in a best-on-best for Canada if NHLers don’t go in 2022.

That is nothing short of a hockey travesty if it happens.
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In an ideal situation he would have played at the 2016 World Cup on an actual best on best national team (even Babcock wanted him on the team, so I have no doubt that he would have been selected) followed by the 2018 Olympics and a 2020 World Cup. It is fairly ridiculous that he hasn't had the chance even once to this point. It would have been good if McDavid had had the chance to rub shoulders with Canada's previous generation in a competitive environment while they were still near the top of their game.

Even Bobby Hull got to play in a best on best. The last guy who was best in the world and didn't get to play in a best on best tournament at some point is probably Gordie Howe or Jean Beliveau. Either way quite a gap. I still expect that McDavid will get that chance but the wait has been too long.
 
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snipes said:
He’ll be 29 by the time the 2026 Olympics occur and would have never played in a best-on-best for Canada if NHLers don’t go in 2022.

That is nothing short of a hockey travesty if it happens.
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If a NHL Olympics is off for China, then I highly doubt that Italy 2026 will entice NHL bosses to shut it down for 3 weeks. It's quite possible that the only way we get to see McDavid on the ice and in a Team Canada jersey for his entire career will be the IIHF annual springtime Skodas. And yes, that is a real travesty.
 
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If the NHL doesn't go to China (where it would have the most incentive if anything to try and reach Chinese eyeballs, as I'm sure Bettman is very jealous that his buddy Silver has access to all that Chinese cash) then they're not going in 2026 either. At that point, it will have been 12 years since the last Olympics with NHL players and the owners will likely be able to count on a sense of apathy from players/fans over it. They'll probably try another NHL Invitational "world cup" sans the gimmick teams to see if that appeases the fans.
 
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