GDT: USA vs. SLO - Sunday 2/16/’14 @ 4:30AM PST {TV-NBCSN}

[Raccoon Jesus]

The NHL players will be there in 2018, the players love going and 95% of the fans love it, and it draws new fans to the game.

They always say they aren't going and use it as a CBA negotiating ploy because they knew how much it means to the players.

I hope you guys are right and I fully agree with the bolded part.

Owners like Snider who only care about the health of the game inasmuch as it affects their pocket books don't want anything to do with the Olympics because they're bottom-line blinded into short-sightedness, but that's totally at odds with the players, so it seems to always be a hotly-contested bargaining chip. You would think big businessmen would see the value in international branding, though. The NHL brand would suffer outside of N.A. if they pulled players from the Olympics, and I'm sure more Europeans would stick to the KHL especially in the appropriate years.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

And the players not going really enjoy the two weeks of paid vacation.