Final Ruling: NHL will NOT participate in Olympics - Part II

[EastonBlues22]

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[Rabid Ranger]

This should actually make the event more competitive. I can't wait to see these **** rosters!

 

[Ezekial]

i am sure the multitude of other athletes representing your country who bust their ***** training while also working their jobs at target just for the chance to be able to wear your country's colors on the biggest stage of them all would be very glad to hear this

Why do you care about his subjective opinion?

To be honest I don't give a **** about the other athletes, I'm also admittedly a bad person so I don't care.

All this decision did for me was guarantee that I don't watch a single second of the Olympics, it will be just like the summer games!

 

[Topkatz]

Very short-sighted. I thought the NHL wanted to bring the game to different markets.

The World Cup is dumb and no one really cares. Hope the players say screw you and go anyway. It's important for a lot of them especially the Europeans.

 

[helax]

Just reading the respons from EK, "This is a total disaster, realy for hockey in general, the worlds most stupid decision ever"
I very much agree with him...

 

[TheBeastCoast]

This should actually make the event more competitive. I can't wait to see these **** rosters!

lol that isn't how this is going to go.

 

[Shrimper]

So, does this mean we'll see an NCAA team?

 

[x Tame Impala]

DeltaSwede...

Perhaps this discussion is more a North American pov vs. European pov?

Our (European) star players are over there representing your city and team colors week in and week out. Maybe we would appreciate that those players were given the opportunity to represent their old colors once, every 4 years. So your Toronto, Montreal, Boston, Arizona teams can take a damn break for 2-3 weeks so the rest of the hockey world can take part.

You are lucky enough that your hometown teams have the best players in the world playing for them 3-5 times a week. Our best players are quickly shipped over to the AHL "to learn the North American game" at age 19, so they can then put on that blue and white Toronto jersey for the next 20 years because a team picked them on a stage announcing it to the other dinosaurs in suits.

Perhaps we should celebrate the game of hockey with the rest of the world every 4 years instead of holding onto your Swedes, Russians, Czechs, Finns, Germans, Swiss, Austrians, Norwegians, French, like they were yours to keep from the beginning like a greedy 5 year old with his candy?

God forbid that I don't get to watch a Bruins game for 3 weeks, but I can follow the USA during that time anyways and the best players representing my country to keep me occupied during the Olympics. USA! USA! USA!

While my European hockey bretherin constantly stay up to 4-6 in the morning to catch a crap stream on some dodgy russian website to catch a pixelated Ovechkin sniping in another goal.

You don't have to sacrifize a lot on a consistent basis to catch your favorite players. You come home from work, you throw your keys and your jacket off, turn on the game, and grab a beer.

The Olympics is my chance to grab a beer after work and just watch the game instead of starting to watch a Canucks game at 4 in the morning Swedish time.

You get the privilege to watch the best of the best play every single night at a reasonable time. Your broadcasting services geo-lock their content to Canadian and American viewers. The NHL is useless to use as a European user.

We have to try so damn hard just to follow the best in the world.

Maybe you guys could suffer for once?

Cry me a river. It's no one's fault that the best league in the world is conveniently available to me and that it attracts the best players in the world. Maybe your country should work on making their league more attractive to their home grown talent?

 

[Rabid Ranger]

lol that isn't how this is going to go.

So, you think Canada will still march to gold?

 

[Martinez]

Sucks for Canada. So now who's the favorite? Russia?

 

[Riptide]

I have a feeling you're going to be disappointed.

How does this sit at the feet of the NHL? How DARE they not freely send their players to a tournament mid-season while not being allowed to market or share any profit of said players' participation?

The greed here sits with the IOC as far as I'm concerned. One of the biggest events in the Winter Games, replete with NHL talent playing at an ultra-high level - and no, the NHL isn't allowed to use any of the footage for marketing! No! The NHL can't get any share of the profits from this big event. No! We won't pay for the insurance and travel costs!

Heck, if the players wanted to go that bad, the NHL even offered to let them (and I believe pay for insurance and travel) if they would uphold the current CBA through to it's end. What's the big issue there? The players feel they don't need to give anything up to go? REALLY? So the financial onus is supposed to be ENTIRELY on the organisation that benefits the LEAST from this event?

And some of you think the NHL is the bad guy?

Felt this was too good not to re-post. Very well said.

 

[TheBeastCoast]

So, you think Canada will still March to gold?

No lol Refer to every winter Olympics between the years 1954 and 1992 to see how this will go.

 

[BruinLVGA]

Just reading the respons from EK, "This is a total disaster, realy for hockey in general, the worlds most stupid decision ever"
I very much agree with him...

I would like to see one, just one player saying "I am glad that the NHL decided not to go to the Olympics". I bet there isn't even one. I don't think that a more unpopular decision could have been taken by the NHL. Brutal.

 

[GeorgesLaRAWK]

This will probably be better than Sochi.

 

[Rabid Ranger]

So, does this mean we'll see an NCAA team?

The U.S. and Canada will have a mix of college, junior, NA minor, and Euro league players.

 

[W75]

From the previous thread:

How do you separate this decision from the business when that has everything to do with it? Stop making comparisons to other tournaments if you aren't willing to discuss the different circumstances and factors.

Didn't mean to attack you, but that's what I did. It wasn't just for you, your post was just right there handily. Sorry.

It's feelings, frustration, tiredness, sadness. I knew this was coming, but it stung harder than I thought.

For example I'm not sure if I ever saw Kurri playing a whole game before Italy '94 IIHF World championships. Like when I was a young adult already. We hadn't sat-tv or anything when I was a child/young. Still every second Finnish kid knew who he was, a hero. It just feels so wrong. Some flashes on sports news and we read statistics from teletext. That's all what most of us had.

Nowadays everything is easier though, because of technology. Still, these tournaments mean a lot for Finns for example.

That's all.

 

[Lunatik]

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Excellent. I hope they never go back to the Olympics.

 

[Rabid Ranger]

No lol Refer to every winter Olympics between the years 1954 and 1992 to see how this will go.

Russia will be a favorite to be sure.

 

[Steve]

So, does this mean we'll see an NCAA team?

I think it will be mostly pro's from the KHL and Europe aka the Spengler cup

 

[NyQuil]

The U.S. and Canada will have a mix of college, junior, NA minor, and Euro league players.

Everyone put their "Imagine if we had access to all of our best players" posts in their clipboard for easy pasting once 2018 rolls around.

 

[MessierII]

Team Russia might get their gold. Datsyuk and Kovy.

 

[AvroArrow]

I hope the NHL owners are just as concerned about potential injuries and losing star players for the season when the WC comes along. Would be a shame if suddenly the players health isn't a concern anymore.

 

[NyQuil]

I hope the NHL owners are just as concerned about potential injuries and losing star players for the season when the WC comes along. Would be a shame if suddenly the players health isn't a concern anymore.

By the time they do another World Cup, maybe they'll have celebrities like Matthew Perry and Jon Hamm drafting the teams like on the Voice.

Go Team Snoop Dogg!

 

[thomasincanada]

Meanwhile in Russia millions are celebrating because suddenly the Olympics are winnable again.

 

[Rabid Ranger]

Every put their "Imagine if we had access to all of our best players" posts in their clipboard for easy pasting once 2018 rolls around.

Shoot, just go to any U.S. WC thread and you'll see what the American team will look like.