On Wednesday, local time, the NHL sadly announced that they would not open players to the 2022 Beijing Olympics. The main reason they mentioned in the league's formula press release is that the impact of the new crown epidemic in recent days has led to a large number of players, coaches and staff unable to participate, and many games have been postponed, so it is no longer feasible to participate in the Winter Olympics.
The NHL had already planned to participate in the Winter Olympics, and set aside an offseason from February 6 to February 22 on the schedule so that players and coaches from the Olympic national teams could travel to Beijing, and now this gap will be used to make up for the already scarred NHL schedule.
An important background to be given is that the NHL is not unconditionally keen to participate in the Olympics. MlB can be used as an example, because of the conflict with the Summer Olympic time, MLB has never opened players to participate in the Olympic Games, the departure of star players will be a fatal blow to the team's combat strength, and the travel fatigue and injury risk are even more unbearable for players and teams. More critically, the Olympics are now generally unprofitable, and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) is unable to pay enough compensation to mlb to persuade it to participate.
The NHL differs from MLB in that baseball has never had an Olympic tradition, and ice hockey has always been the most important sport of the Winter Olympics, probably not one of them. Players from hockey powers, especially the traditional top six (Canada, the United States, Russia, Sweden, Finland, the Czech Republic), have a strong willingness to participate, and the NHL has been open to players since the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano.
For this reason, the owners of the team need to make certain sacrifices, and the extension of the schedule will increase the cost, and the player injuries will be fatal. It is true that participating in the Olympic Games has certain benefits for promoting the hockey program, but this has little short-term benefit for NHL teams. Essentially, it's a game between team owners and players, and in negotiations between labor and management, players make certain concessions in exchange for the team agreeing to participate in the Olympic Games. On the other hand, the IOC and the Organizing Committee of the Olympic Host Countries will also give the NHL a portion of the benefits as consideration for opening up players to participate.
Since it is a business, there are times when it cannot be negotiated. Finally, ahead of the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, the NHL informed the International Ice Federation (IIHF) and IOC that they would not compete, ending the NHL's history of participating in five consecutive Olympic Games.
At that time, the industry was generally uncertain about the NHL's participation in the Beijing Winter Olympics. The NHL held pre-season games in China for two consecutive years in 2017 and 2018, showing a strong interest in the Chinese market, and it is reasonable to think that the league will actively promote participation in the Beijing Winter Olympics. But at the same time, the NHL's labor agreement with the Players' Union (NHLPA) is about to expire, and there are many differences between the two sides, and it is difficult to reach a smooth agreement.
In the early 2020 outbreak of COVID-19 around the world, including the NHL, the major professional leagues in North America experienced an unprecedented shutdown. Unexpectedly, in this critical autumn, the labor and management sides put aside their previous suspicions, cooperated sincerely, and soon reached an agreement on the resumption of the games, labor-management negotiations, and even participated in the next Winter Olympics - even if the difficulties were so difficult, the players did not forget that they were eager to come to Beijing.
After that, with the NHL's 2020-21 season and 2021-22 season going smoothly, the specific matters of players participating in the Olympic Games are also steadily advancing, and various ice hockey countries with NHL players have also announced some of the lineups, and for a time in Beijing, it seems that the world's top hockey players are already nailed down.
The situation took a sharp turn for the worse after entering December, with the recurrence of the epidemic in the North American professional sports world, many NHL teams have a large number of players in the new crown roster, and more and more games have been postponed. Jon Cooper, the original head coach of the Canadian national team and who led the Tampa Bay Lightning to defend his title, is on the new crown list.
Under the agreement between the NHL and the NHLPA, the league has the right to withdraw from the Olympics if the integrity of the season is threatened by the new crown. As mentioned earlier, there is a relationship of economic interest between labor and management, and they have both antagonism and cooperation. Under the NHL hard wage cap system, both labor and management have a 55% share of total income, and if there are fewer games, everyone's income will decrease.
Donald Fehr, executive director of the NHLPA, said in an interview: "Given that we started postponing games, it seems increasingly unlikely that it will be possible to complete the season without borrowing the Olympic window. It's a real pity, we have nothing to do. Fair also expressed his understanding of the NHL's decision-making, he believes that the league is not vain, and withdrawing from the Olympics is a realistic necessity: "In the face of the new crown, I have no reason to speculate that both labor and management will have any problems with this ending. ”
The players' disappointment was palpable, with Finnish striker Turvo Trawanen of the Carolina Hurricanes saying: "The Olympics have always been my dream and it is too bad not to get a chance to participate so far. Lightning captain and Canadian striker Steven Stamkers failed to attend the Olympics in 2014 because of a leg injury, the NHL was not open in 2018, and 2022 may be his last chance: "Every time I put on the national team shirt, I feel different, this is my third time I can participate in the Olympics but I can't make the trip, we don't have any way, there are nine times that life is not satisfactory." 」 ”
Lightning's Swedish defender Victor Herdmann revealed: "It's so sad. This is what we have been waiting for for a long time, and there are some things in the world that we cannot control. We have made long-term preparations for the trip to China, and the inability to go has caused us a great blow. In any case, safety comes first. We will work hard for the next Stanley Cup, which will make up for the loss of the players to the greatest extent. ”
Chicago Black hawk captain Jonathan Toews, who won the Olympic gold medal with Canada twice, summed up the player's perspective: "The initial statement was that the players always wanted to go, and the league lacked enthusiasm for the Olympics, which was really a point of controversy in the past, and the ice hockey tournaments with NHL players were absolutely the best." But from my position and that of the players who prioritize health, family and the team, going to Beijing will face a very unpredictable situation, and I think giving up is the right choice. ”