After months of speculation, the NHL made it official today: their players will not be going to the Olympics next winter.
The men’s ice hockey tournament at the 2018 Olympic Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea will occur without the world’s best players in attendance. The NHL released a statement Monday indicating their intention to finalize plans for a 2017-18 season that does not include a winter break for the Olympics.
The NHL has released the following statement regarding the 2018 Olympic Winter Games. pic.twitter.com/nqjYtsLHew
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) April 3, 2017
The NHL and the International Olympic Committee have reportedly been in talks for months as the IOC failed to sway the league’s owners to send their players overseas.
According to the NHL’s statement, their decision not to attend the 2018 games could result in the IOC barring them from participating in the 2022 Olympics in Beijing, China. The NHL is looking to grow its brand in the Chinese market, with the country’s government investing in hockey leading up to 2022, but a potential absence of NHL players at those games may hinder progress.
The world’s top hockey players have competed in the past five winter Olympics, beginning with the 1998 games in Nagano, Japan. NHLers have since played for Olympic medals at Salt Lake City 2002, Turin 2006, Vancouver 2010, and Sochi 2014.
Before the 2016-17 season, players competed in the NHL-run World Cup of Hockey, which may well serve as the league’s replacement for Olympic competition. The NHL claims that its teams aren’t willing to pause their season for the Olympics, making the preseason World Cup (which also provides revenue to the NHL) a more suitable option.
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Some NHL players may yet attend the 2018 games, with owners like Ted Leonsis of the Washington Capitals stating that he’d allow his players (like Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom) to leave the team briefly and play for their countries. Other owners, like the Ottawa Senators’ Eugene Melnyk, have ruled out allowing their players to do the same.
The Pyeongchang 2018 games are scheduled to run from February 9 to 25 next winter.