Wow, NHL not going to the Olympics!!!

[Back in Black]

Ouch

Click to read more...

 

[Fandlauer]

Good. I'd rather not shut down the season and risk injury for that sideshow. The IOC can eat ****.

 

[Back in Black]

Just means more Word Cups, same shutdown will continue.

 

[Gil Gunderson]

12 years too late...

 

[Johnny Hanson]

I can't believe there are people who are actually surprised

 

[GWNR]

Good. I'd rather not shut down the season and risk injury for that sideshow. The IOC can eat ****.

 

[Fandlauer]

Ya, God forbid I don't fawn all over the freakshow that the Olympics have become. The owners made the right call.

 

[NyQuil]

I like Olympic hockey myself.

I'm disappointed.

Despite what happened with Hasek, it's the only "best on best" tournament available after the NHL screwed up the World Cup.

I enjoy the World Championships but the NHL playoff factor rules it out as anything more than an excuse to see some interesting line combinations.

 

[Karl Eriksson56]

2nd World juniors

 

[danielpalfredsson]

Good.

Why should the IOC which once you put aside all the BS is essentially a competing professional sports league get NHL players not only for free, but at a cost to both the NHL and/or the IIHF? It makes zero sense.

I get being upset if you enjoy Olympic hockey, but I don't get people who are on the IOC's side in the court of public opinion. There are zero benefits to the NHL going at this point. They can't even use it as a means to promote the league since they aren't allowed to use the footage, and there is no real evidence that their involvement grows the game let alone grows it to a level great enough to justify the cost to the NHL.

If players want to go, they should sign contracts that end prior to Olympic years so that they are free agents....but oh wait....once it is their money and livelihood at stake the Olympics aren't so important anymore right?

 

[NyQuil]

Good.

Why should the IOC which once you put aside all the BS is essentially a competing professional sports league get NHL players not only for free, but at a cost to both the NHL and/or the IIHF? It makes zero sense.

I get being upset if you enjoy Olympic hockey, but I don't get people who are on the IOC's side in the court of public opinion. There are zero benefits to the NHL going at this point. They can't even use it as a means to promote the league since they aren't allowed to use the footage, and there is no real evidence that their involvement grows the game let alone grows it to a level great enough to justify the cost to the NHL.

If players want to go, they should sign contracts that end prior to Olympic years so that they are free agents....but oh wait....once it is their money and livelihood at stake the Olympics aren't so important anymore right?

I'm not on the IOC's side, I'm on the side of the players.

And the players want to go.

The players want to represent their country on the highest stage. It's important to them.

Sometimes people forget that hockey is a sport and that part of the history is international competition. People don't remember Paul Henderson because of his play in the NHL.

I think your argument regarding the players is a bit unfair. There's a lot of things that I do that I wouldn't if it cost me my job. Why does that have to be the price of going?

I'm old enough to be around before the NHLers participated in the Olympics. Personally, I thought it was a pretty big letdown by comparison.

The excitement of Nagano and the crushing disappointment, the vindication of 2002 in Salt Lake, the choke job of 2006 in Torino, followed by the Golden Goal in 2010 and then the dominance of 2014. Every Olympics has been a pretty amazing story. All of the excitement and controversy around the naming of the rosters. Seeing them alongside our other athletes in the Village.

I think we're getting pretty cynical around here and it's too bad.

 

[GWNR]

Ya, God forbid I don't fawn all over the freakshow that the Olympics have become. The owners made the right call.

What is a sideshow? The on-ice product isn't. The IOC is.

 

[Vesa Awesaka]

Probably not a good move. Hurts the league's goodwill with some fans and players.

 

[jason2020]

I'm not on the IOC's side, I'm on the side of the players.

And the players want to go.

The players want to represent their country on the highest stage. It's important to them.

Sometimes people forget that hockey is a sport and that part of the history is international competition. People don't remember Paul Henderson because of his play in the NHL.

I think your argument regarding the players is a bit unfair. There's a lot of things that I do that I wouldn't if it cost me my job. Why does that have to be the price of going?

I'm old enough to be around before the NHLers participated in the Olympics. Personally, I thought it was a pretty big letdown by comparison.

The excitement of Nagano and the crushing disappointment, the vindication of 2002 in Salt Lake, the choke job of 2006 in Torino, followed by the Golden Goal in 2010 and then the dominance of 2014. Every Olympics has been a pretty amazing story. All of the excitement and controversy around the naming of the rosters. Seeing them alongside our other athletes in the Village.

I think we're getting pretty cynical around here and it's too bad.

We don't know hoe many want to go some say its 50% some say it very few.

 

[NyQuil]

We don't know hoe many want to go some say its 50% some say it very few.

How many players have ever turned down the invitation?

 

[MarkStone]

Yeah the IOC is the scum of the earth but we are getting a side-show international tourney regardless (whether it's world cup or Olympics), and I have to say that I prefer the Olympic stage as the venue for the top best on best competition.

 

[jason2020]

How many players have ever turned down the invitation?

With a possible war between North and South Korea I think most would reject.

 

[NyQuil]

With a possible war between North and South Korea I think most would reject.

I think you'd be surprised.

 

[NyQuil]

Here's a ******** article from a league mouthpiece on the actual NHL website:

https://www.nhl.com/news/history-shows-olympics-dont-help-nhl/c-288389004

Deciding not to go to PyeongChang does not mean the NHL is not trying to grow the game, promote the League or provide great experiences for fans and players. Quite the opposite. The NHL did it without the Olympics for 80 years and will do so again.

NHL players began participating in best-on-best international competition in the 1972 Summit Series. The League continued with the 1974 Summit Series; the 1976, '81, '84, '87 and '91 Canada Cup tournaments; and the World Cup of Hockey in 1996 and 2004. Together with the NHLPA, the League revived the tradition with the World Cup of Hockey 2016.

The Vancouver Canucks and Los Angeles Kings will play preseason games in Shanghai on Sept. 21 and in Beijing on Sept. 23 in the 2017 NHL China Games. The Colorado Avalanche and Ottawa Senators will play regular-season games in Stockholm, Sweden, on Nov. 10-11 in the 2017 SAP NHL Global Series. These events are part of a larger international plan, and we'll see if something changes regarding NHL participation in the 2022 Beijing Olympics.

The NHL isn't going to the 2018 Games, but it will continue to bring the game to people around the world.

Nice try Nick.

 

[Inkling]

Both Alan Walsh and Pierre McGuire have been on the radio saying that the vast majority of players who might be invited, want to go, and they both talk to enough players that I think they have credibility on that matter.

If you're one of those fans who likes to watch the world burn, this sets things up for a lot of drama between now and the Olympics.

The World Cup of Hockey might someday in theory have some semblance of prestige, but not the way the NHL is currently handling it.

 

[Sens of Anarchy]

No surprise here.

 

[Gil Gunderson]

With a possible war between North and South Korea I think most would reject.

Nothing will happen.

 

[danielpalfredsson]

I'm not on the IOC's side, I'm on the side of the players.

And the players want to go.

The players want to represent their country on the highest stage. It's important to them.

Sometimes people forget that hockey is a sport and that part of the history is international competition. People don't remember Paul Henderson because of his play in the NHL.

I think your argument regarding the players is a bit unfair. There's a lot of things that I do that I wouldn't if it cost me my job. Why does that have to be the price of going?

I'm old enough to be around before the NHLers participated in the Olympics. Personally, I thought it was a pretty big letdown by comparison.

The excitement of Nagano and the crushing disappointment, the vindication of 2002 in Salt Lake, the choke job of 2006 in Torino, followed by the Golden Goal in 2010 and then the dominance of 2014. Every Olympics has been a pretty amazing story. All of the excitement and controversy around the naming of the rosters. Seeing them alongside our other athletes in the Village.

I think we're getting pretty cynical around here and it's too bad.

I guess we just have different mentalities when it comes to the Olympics. I see them as no different than any other pro sport league.

I don't know what your job is, but if you willingly signed an exclusive contract the same way NHL players do, I'd have no sympathy for you being unable to work for a competing organization at a massive cost to your employer. I have no doubt in my mind that international competition means a lot to these NHLers, but that doesn't change the fact that they not only willingly signed contracts with the NHL that would prevent them from entering that competition, but they also had multiple opportunities to make things fair by having the NHLPA give the NHL some sort of consolation such as extending the CBA in order to have the NHL bend over backwards to go to the Olympics.

I just don't see it like you I guess. We're talking about numerous players who for a lack of better term are now mini corporations being upset that their pro league who they willingly signed contracts with won't lend them to a competing pro sports organization....it makes absolutely no sense to me. I don't think it is a cynical look at the situation at all.

 

[GWNR]

Both Alan Walsh and Pierre McGuire have been on the radio saying that the vast majority of players who might be invited, want to go, and they both talk to enough players that I think they have credibility on that matter.

If you're one of those fans who likes to watch the world burn, this sets things up for a lot of drama between now and the Olympics.

The World Cup of Hockey might someday in theory have some semblance of prestige, but not the way the NHL is currently handling it.

I'll get over it if they do the World Cup right. I just wanna see best on best.

The on-ice product of the olympics is far from a sideshow. The IOC is a complete gongshow and they're the real ones to blame.

 

[NyQuil]

I don't think it is a cynical look at the situation at all.

It's a purely business-oriented perspective.

That's fine, I just think that there are a lot of positive externalities that are being ignored.