[Newsbot]

Title: NHL says it won't participate in 2018 Olympics
Category: Sports
Posted By: Strutz
Date: 2017-04-03 17:31:08
Canadian

[Strutz]

I figured they would say no.

[Thanos]

We won't be making the medal round in 2018 then. It'll be a throwback to the 1970's and 80's when Team Canada always got destroyed by the Soviet Red Army "amateur" teams at the Olympics back then.

[raydan]

I wonder if the NHL will have deserters going to the Olympics?

[shockedcanadian]

Hopefully there will be enough patriotism in the Canadian players to walk away from their teams, accept the risks and represent Canada. Ovechkin has stated he will do so regardless of whether the NHL goes or not, with so many players from the KHL able to play, Canada and other countries not named Russia would be at a major disadvantage

It's also worth nothing that Capitals owner Ted Leonsis stated publicly that he would support his players who left to represent their country. There's a guy who understands loyalty to ones nation (where warranted).

Bottom line, if 20 players from the top 3-4 nations left for the Olympics, it would represent a form of civil disobedience that would force the hand of the NHL in ways they haven't seen before. Ratings for the Olympics would go up considerably while those for the NHL would suffer.

[peck420]

There is nothing the IOC can do that will cause the NHL ratings to 'suffer'. The majority of viewers, for both events, are on TV/Internet. All are capable of watching more than one event concurrently...which is a non-issue, as 2018 and 2022 will both be well outside of NHL game times...time zones and all of that.

The IOC continues to want everything for free, it is actually refreshing to see companies beginning to stand up to them.

As for players that choose national teams versus NHL teams, that is up to them, they have the right to make that choice and they are all aware of the consequences. Ovi has no bones about going because Mother Russia has made no bones about covering his expenses, and his insurance in the event of things going south for Ovi. Crosby, and any other Canadians will not be so lucky. Our government, let alone our Olympic program, don't have the funds to do the same here.

And, finally, even though the NHLPA has released an "or else" statement, they don't actually have a leg to stand on, if they choose to walk out over this. The NHL asked during the last CBA negotiations, for Olympic protocols, but it was the NHLPA that rejected the offer, and excluded it. Mediators will take that heavily into account.

[bootlegga]

Thanos Thanos:

We won't be making the medal round in 2018 then. It'll be a throwback to the 1970's and 80's when Team Canada always got destroyed by the Soviet Red Army "amateur" teams at the Olympics back then.

Yep, the difference is this time it'll be a pro team made up of KHL players, some of whom used to be pretty elite players in the NHL. It'll be made worse if Ovechkin goes over there, as I doubt any elite Canadian players will bail on their teams.

In the end, this came down to greed pure and simple - the IOC wanting star players to increase TV ratings, and the owners wanting deals for the NHLPA on the collective agreement.

I'd laugh my ass off if the IOC told the NHL in four years that they are not welcome at the Beijing Games, as Bettman and Co. certainly want a piece of the growing Chinese market.

I don't know about anyone else, but I don't care about regular hockey when Olympic hockey is on, and if I have to go to bed early and miss NHL games to catch Olympic games, I certainly will.

[shockedcanadian]

bootlegga bootlegga:

Thanos Thanos:

We won't be making the medal round in 2018 then. It'll be a throwback to the 1970's and 80's when Team Canada always got destroyed by the Soviet Red Army "amateur" teams at the Olympics back then.

Yep, the difference is this time it'll be a pro team made up of KHL players, some of whom used to be pretty elite players in the NHL. It'll be made worse if Ovechkin goes over there, as I doubt any elite Canadian players will bail on their teams.

In the end, this came down to greed pure and simple - the IOC wanting star players to increase TV ratings, and the owners wanting deals for the NHLPA on the collective agreement.

I'd laugh my ass off if the IOC told the NHL in four years that they are not welcome at the Beijing Games, as Bettman and Co. certainly want a piece of the growing Chinese market.

I don't know about anyone else, but I don't care about regular hockey when Olympic hockey is on, and if I have to go to bed early and miss NHL games to catch Olympic games, I certainly will.

I'm with you on this one. I prefer Olympic hockey even to the Stanley Cup (unless somehow the Leafs were in the finals). It is the most intense, skill laden, beautiful version of ice hockey you can find on this planet.

I still remember the loss to the Czechs in 1998 when they lost in a shootout, it was in Japan I believe and I stayed up until 2 or 3 to watch the end of that one. Never thought for a moment that Team Canada could lost with NHL players participating, and it denied Gretzky his Gold Medal in the Olympics as a player, though I presume he received one as a Manager in 2002.

[CDN_PATRIOT]

Thanos Thanos:

We won't be making the medal round in 2018 then.

Bite your tongue. With all the available hockey talent in this country, we'll have no trouble beating the rest of the world in 2018. Hockey is OUR game. We'll keep the gold medal streak going with ease.

-J.

[Freakinoldguy]

raydan raydan:

I wonder if the NHL will have deserters going to the Olympics?

Well we know one is for sure.

$1:

Alex Ovechkin did not blink Tuesday, saying he still intends to play in the Olympic Games for Russia next year regardless of the NHL's announcement that it was pulling the plug.

"Yeah, I didn't change my mind and I won't," the Washington Capitals superstar captain told a huge media scrum after the morning skate at Air Canada Centre.

"Because it's my country," Ovechkin added. "I think everybody wants to play there. It's the biggest opportunity in your life to play in the Olympic Games. So, I don't know, somebody [is] going to tell me 'don't go,' I don't care, I just go."

http://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/1907 ... g-olympics

I wonder what Washington's gonna do with their best player if he breaks ranks and carry's out his threat?

[Thanos]

CDN_PATRIOT CDN_PATRIOT:

Thanos Thanos:

We won't be making the medal round in 2018 then.

Bite your tongue. With all the available hockey talent in this country, we'll have no trouble beating the rest of the world in 2018. Hockey is OUR game. We'll keep the gold medal streak going with ease.

-J.

You must be really young if you can't remember Team Canada getting rolled hard by the Czechs or the Red Army team for multiple Olympics in a row. Our record in the 1970/80's was terrible, and it only changed when the NHL players were allowed in. If we send amateurs or juniors to the Olympics against KHL players it'll be a repeat of the bad old days. Reality beats flag-waving fantasy all the time.

[bootlegga]

Thanos Thanos:

CDN_PATRIOT CDN_PATRIOT:

Thanos Thanos:

We won't be making the medal round in 2018 then.

Bite your tongue. With all the available hockey talent in this country, we'll have no trouble beating the rest of the world in 2018. Hockey is OUR game. We'll keep the gold medal streak going with ease.

-J.

You must be really young if you can't remember Team Canada getting rolled hard by the Czechs or the Red Army team for multiple Olympics in a row. Our record in the 1970/80's was terrible, and it only changed when the NHL players were allowed in. If we send amateurs or juniors to the Olympics against KHL players it'll be a repeat of the bad old days. Reality beats flag-waving fantasy all the time.

Yep, anytime you send boys to play men, the results are often predictable. The lopsided results at the Olympics were a big reason the 1972 Summit Series was played was so Canada could show the world what our professionals could do against the Soviet pros.

Before the gold in 2002, the previous gold medal was from 1952.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_O ... ice_hockey

I'd argue the only reason we even got silver in Albertville ('92) & Lillehammer ('94) was because NHL players like Sean Burke, Peter Nedved, Peter Kariya, etc had contract disputes and played on the Olympic team instead of the NHL.

[Lemmy]

The IOC is the most corrupt agency on the planet and there hasn't been an Olympic games in decades that wasn't awash in favour-trading, pocket-lining and all-out graft. The IOC shouldn't be allowed to put on a kid's birthday party, let alone an international event on the scale of an Olympic games. Fucking burn it all. The lot of them haven't the professional integrity to work part-time at a dollar store. Dismantle the entire organization. Until then, any nation that allows its athletes to compete is complicit in a criminal enterprise. And the worst part is that none of this is a secret.