The NHL is officially out of the Olympics — now what?
CBC
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The NHL made it official today, announcing that its players won't participate in the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing due to pandemic-related issues. Though the writing was on the wall for quite some time, the finality of it all is a huge blow to the players who were excited to compete for their countries, and to fans who were looking forward to watching one of the very best tournaments in all of sports.
So, where do we go from here? Let's try to answer some key questions in the wake of today's announcement:
Any chance the Beijing Olympics get postponed by a year?
That's what happened in March 2020 to the Tokyo Summer Olympics, and a lot of people have commented that this current wave of the pandemic feels a bit reminiscent of that time. But attitudes and approaches to COVID-19 have shifted over the past two years — especially since vaccines began rolling out about a year ago. Yes, the NHL extended its Christmas break in response to a surge in positive tests among its players, but the NFL and NBA have made it clear that pausing their seasons is no longer a viable option.
Whether right or wrong, there's a greater willingness these days to try and push through this rather than shut down. Neither the International Olympic Committee nor Chinese organizers have given any indication that the Beijing Games will not take place this February.
Can NHL players still go to the Olympics on their own?
No. Per Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman, this could have been a possibility if the NHL Players' Association had been the one to officially make the move to pull out. But it was the league that chose to exercise a clause allowing it to cancel Olympic participation if the pandemic caused a "material disruption to the schedule." With 50 games postponed so far this season (the vast majority of them in the last 10 days) and probably more to come, it was easy for the NHL to make the case that it can no longer afford to shut down for two and a half weeks to send its best players halfway around the world. The players signed off on this, making it a joint decision.
Either way, it's highly unlikely any player would go rogue and leave his NHL team to compete for his country. There was a lot of tough talk from guys claiming they'd do this in 2018, when the NHL and the IOC were squabbling over money. Alex Ovechkin vowed to play for Russia whether the NHL liked it or not. But everyone backed down after the league announced it wouldn't allow players to go to Pyeongchang.
Will there be NHL games during the Olympics?
That's the plan. Commissioner Gary Bettman said the league "will begin utilizing available dates during the Feb. 6-22 window… to reschedule games that have been, or may yet be, postponed." How many games, though, remains to be seen. Many NHL arenas are booked during that time for stuff like concerts and other sports. So the schedule might be lighter than usual. This is being sorted out as we speak.
Who will play for Canada?
A contingency plan was already in place in case the NHL bailed. General manager Doug Armstrong and his staff will step aside, leaving the job of filling out the roster to Hockey Canada executive Scott Salmond and replacement GM Shane Doan, the former Phoenix/Arizona Coyotes forward. Former Montreal Canadiens and Boston Bruins head coach Claude Julien will be behind the bench.
As for the players, expect something similar to 2018, when Canada's Olympic team was made up mostly of guys playing in the Russia-based KHL, plus some other European leagues. Salmond said players from the AHL (North America's top minor league) and the NCAA (U.S. colleges/universities) will also be considered.
