By Jordan Long
The Winter Olympics are a year away and will be located in Pyeongchang, South Korea. The hot topic in the NHL is that these professional players may not play in the Olympics. According to yahoosports.com Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly said, “If the status quo remains, I don’t expect us to be in the Olympics. As of right now, there’s not a will [to participate].”
The NHL has allowed athletes to participate in the hockey event since 1998. Players enjoy representing their country to win a medal. The drawback is the NHL halts play for about 2.5 weeks for them to play. The biggest worry for owners during the Olympics is a major injury to one of their skaters. If that occurs, it could be a blow to a contending team to win a Stanley Cup.
I would be okay with the NHL not sending their players to the Olympics. The season is already 82 games and a stoppage makes the season two weeks longer. The NHL has set up the World Cup of Hockey. The last one was September 17 through the 29th, 2016. The tournament included the countries of Canada, Czech Republic, Finland, Russia, Sweden, United States, a European team, and a North America team of players who are 23 and younger. This allowed competitors to represent their country. They are going to do it again in 2020. This is a reasonable alterative to the Olympics.
The NHL is taking a hard look at the Olympics. If they don’t go at least they will have the World Cup of Hockey to look forward to. The NHL will make the right decision.
How do you feel about the NHL thinking of not sending players to the Olympic games in 2018?
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