NHL is not the only professional hockey league.
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NHL players will not participate in the 2018 Winter Olympics
- Thread starter ZeroGravity
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Teletraan1
Banned
Don't think pro athletes should have to prop up the Olympics. Too much focus on Men's Basketball and Men's Hockey in especially in Canada detract too much from the other athletes during the only time they have in the spotlight. I would prefer if none of the pro leagues participated tbh.
BigJonsson
Member
Now that the Leafs are good I don't really care about the Olympics 
TakeItSlowDude
Member
Too bad. I was expecting Connor to follow up his Stanley Cup win with a gold medal but now will have to just settle for back to back cups.
DeaconKnowledge
Member
They want eyeballs on their World Hockey Classic or whatever it's called.
.Detective.
Member
Maybe someone can help clarify, but isn't the NHL one of the least watched pro leagues when you compare them to the likes of the NBA, NHL, MLB, PGA, etc?
ZeroGravity
Member
Yes, but hockey is one of the most watched events of the winter olympics, due in large part in recent years because of NHL players.
newtypepilot
Member
Just a bunch of shortsighted owners who are too petty to see the big picture. Funny how this was announced after they said they'll have 2 pre-season games in China next season.
Joke league is always a joke.
Joke league is always a joke.
You do realise that there's more than one side at fault here right? The NHLPA decided not to play ball on the CBA extension and the IOC decided to offset more risk onto the NHL.
The IOC is 100% to blame. They just expect, for the most watched event at the Winter Olympics (meaning huge advertising dollars) that they can just keep all the money, not pay for any of the insurance, and just have the NHL randomly take a break to send their players over there, Greed greed greed which is nothing new for the IOC. They should be sharing some of that advertising revenue with the league to take the break. The tournament is meaningless anyways without the best players there to compete for the gold medal.
As much as I love Olympic hockey, Bettman and the owners are on the right here. Also the IOC takes the NHL for granted and just expects the NHL to grovel at their feet. They used to pull this shit with the MLB who never gave in to this BS (hence why baseball and sadly by association, softball were removed from the summer games).
You can ask Islanders fans how they felt after John Tavares got hurt during the Olympics or go back further and ask Senators fans how they felt when Dominik Hasek got hurt during the winter games.
Yes, less people watch the NHL than the NHL.
You can ask Islanders fans how they felt after John Tavares got hurt during the Olympics or go back further and ask Senators fans how they felt when Dominik Hasek got hurt during the winter games.
Yes, less people watch the NHL than the NHL.
They also actively made the deal worse this time around by not paying for the expenses... like throw the NHL a bone. They can't even use Olympic highlights either, which is such a petty thing for the IOC to deny the NHL. Apparently exposure is a one way street to the IOC.
Coldnoodle
Member
Ovi better win that cup now.
It's KHL bound next season!
Nothing stopping Sweden, Finland, Russia, etc leagues from sending pro players. In fact, they'll jump at the chance to play a tournament where can/us players are only 16-17 years old.
Spectral Glider
Member
Good, it's an idea that wore out its welcome years ago.
Yep. Losing John Tavares for the rest of the season in an all-star tournament was a joke. Garth Snow was rightfully pissed off. Imagine Tom Brady or Lebron James going to the Olympics at three quarters of the way into the season only for their teams to lose those players for the rest of the season.
The Islanders need John Tavares on the ice. NHL teams rely heavily on the gate and playoff gate revenues. Losing Tavares can kill your chances at making the playoffs or ruin your stadium deal.
The IOC is greedy and I feel most American NHL fans care more about their team than the USA All Stars competing against Canada and Sweden's A team.
I'm pretty torn on this, because as much as I like seeing most teams ice the best* talent in the world, it really sucks pausing the NHL season. Not only pausing the season, but possibly causing a more tightly-packed schedule if this season is any indication.
The World Cup of Hockey last September pushed back training camps and the NHL had to allow a bye week for each team to compensate for a shorter summer.
I can't say I blame the NHL and the owners, because there's not a lot to benefit from on their end. If anything, it's a liability potentially losing players to injury.
The World Cup of Hockey last September pushed back training camps and the NHL had to allow a bye week for each team to compensate for a shorter summer.
I can't say I blame the NHL and the owners, because there's not a lot to benefit from on their end. If anything, it's a liability potentially losing players to injury.
newtypepilot
Member
NHLPA not happy:
https://twitter.com/TSNBobMcKenzie/status/849041396879298561
https://twitter.com/TSNBobMcKenzie/status/849041396879298561
Absolutely unbelievable. The NHL was willing to go (seemingly) if they were able to use the Olympic rings in their advertising and the IOC wasn't willing to do that.
Thomas Bach and the IOC are absolutely disgustingly greedy.
Zombie James
Banned
The IOC is a putrid organization. I think the NHL's demands were more than reasonable, especially the logo thing and merchandise revenue. But even if the IOC weren't a crock of shit I'd still be against stopping an 82-game season with 20 games left and risking player injuries. It's fucked over teams in the past and it'll continue to fuck over teams.
Yeah that kinda shifts the blame here. Both the NHL's demands make sense, either not paying for the players' insurance while they're not playing in the NHL or getting to advertise with the Olympics' logo is a reasonable demand, especially since they were looking for ONE of these, not both.
Mostly though, it makes it seem like the NHL didn't like being treated like a beer league that doesn't matter by the IOC.
Hari Seldon
Member
Fuck the IOC. I will watch zero minutes of this shitshow. And hey I won't have to because the NHL won't be on break!
SoRuffShoNuff
Member
The Olympics would not survive without professional track and field stars, swimmers, and figure skaters.
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