I hate to keep belabouring this point, but the NHL =/= hockey. It isn't the NHL's job to act as the unifying force for all hockey in the world. That's the IIHF's job. And it is thus incumbent on the IIHF to persuade the NHL that continued participation is a good thing.
Likewise, hockey is not soccer, so I don't buy the comparisons as being valid. And I say this despite the fact that the soccer example actually argues in favour of the NHL's point - there is far more money in the World Cup than there is the Olympics.
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