The NHL and the players’ union NHLPA are said to have decided that there will be no NHL players in the Olympics, reports The Athletic and ESPN.
– I understand the problems with the corona. They are concerned when it comes to infection and quarantine. They are a private player, so they can not wait for several weeks, says former NHL professional Espen “Shampo” Knutsen.
ESPN announces on Tuesday that the decision will be announced within the next 24 hours. The agreement will be that no players will be allowed to travel to the Olympics in Beijing in February.
– I think it is completely right of the NHL not to send the players to the Olympics. Both in terms of health, but not least to protect the league’s income. Just before the outbreak of omikron, the league was about to go past its turnover from before the covid outbreak, and the players would be debt-free above the league in 2024. It is two years earlier than expected one year ago. The latter I think has been an important factor for the NHLPA about why things have turned around, but also the uncertainty about the length of a possible quarantine in China, says VG’s NHL expert Roy Ulvmoen.
–After the NHL players were not allowed to go to the Olympics in 2018 either, Olympic participation in 2022 and 2026 became part of the last collective agreement for the NHL. For the forthcoming Olympic Games, participation was dependent on the basic series not being “significantly affected” by postponements due to corona infection. It has now become. 50 matches have been postponed, of which 32 are just this week.
– It is very sad. Everyone wants to play the Olympics, but if the employer can walk the doll, you have to think about it too, says “Shampoo”.
– Is corona just an excuse that they do not want to take a break in the league?
– The NHL never wanted to go to China, but has promised the players that. So this probably had little to do with excuses, Ulvmoen answers.
–Ice hockey is the most watched sport in the Winter Olympics and has enormous economic significance for the Olympic Games. Without the players from the world’s best league, TV numbers will probably be affected – and go down.
– Unfortunately, it probably does. In North America, viewership numbers dropped quite a bit in 2018 (without the NHL) versus 2014 (with the NHL). The times the matches are on are also not optimal for either North America or Europe, says Ulvmoen.
Vålerenga legend Espen “Shampo” Knutsen, also does not look positively on an Olympics without the best players.
– It is the biggest and most important sport, so it is very sad that it will be a bit like a BC-influenced tournament, he says.
Now, the planned Olympic break will probably instead be used to keep up to date in the NHL. The Beijing Olympics run from February 4 to 21, 2022.
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